6 Music - Music News

Yorkshire's status as an incubator for songsmiths was given a three-fold affirmation tonight as Sheffield crooner Richard Hawley teamed up with Arctic Monkey Alex Turner and Corinne Bailey Rae unveiled new tracks at the Little Noise Sessions in London.

Hawley and Turner joined forces during the former's headline set, performing a cover of the Arctics' track The Only Ones Who Know.

Meanwhile the big surprise of the night was a set by Turner himself, which featured two unnamed new songs, as well as stripped back versions of Fluorescent Adolescent, Secret Door and Cornerstone - with Arctics guitarist Jamie Cook joining for the Humbug tracks.

Initially a touch tentative, Turner seemed much more at ease when joined by Cook and the pair of tracks from the band's latest album seemed to exude confidence in an acoustic setting, perhaps even moreso than the studio and recent live versions.

Leeds-raised Corinne Bailey Rae played two tracks from her forthcoming album The Sea, the title track and the emotive Do It All Again which recalls the tragic death of her husband Jason Rae last year.

Meanwhile Richard Hawley turned his hand not only to tracks from his three most recent albums, but also a cover of the Elvis Presley track Crawfish and, curiously, Hushabye Mountain from the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Dexterous as ever both lyrically and musically, Hawley moulded even that to his characteristic croon and it sat surprisingly easily within the set.

Perhaps the most tantalising prospect of the evening was Hawley's suggestion that he and Turner might work together again.

He told 6 Music: "Well we are gonna you know... I really want um...  I'm not saying. No I'm not! I'll get shot."

For a few years there has been a history of respect between Hawley and Arctic Monkeys.

When accepting the 2006 Mercury Music Prize, Turner joked that fellow nominee Hawley had been "robbed".

NME recently revealed that Turner voted for Hawley in the magazine's 50 Albums of the Decade list.

"We're not best mates but I know him enough to know that he's a solid kid, a gentle bloke, and funny," said Hawley of Turner on Thursday. "I enjoy his company. They're all top lads, little monkeys."

Ahead of the show, Hawley revealed he did not have to go through usual formalities to get the Arctics on board.

"I went to see them when they were in Sheffield the other day and said, 'Fancy getting up with us?' "He said, 'Yeah'. It's not complicated. We don't need to do managers and 'your people talk to my people' and all that nonsense. It's just mates."