On glancing around Richard Hawley's website today, references to his Mercury Music Prize nomination are there for all to see, including an interactive video clip of tracks from his latest album "Standing at the Sky's Edge". Disappointingly, though not entirely surprisingly, Hawley's powerful psychedelic slab of emotive balladeering, delivered with a blizzard of melodic baritone and feedback, failed to tantalize enough judges to warrant a trophy. Yah boo.

But Hawley doesn't need plaudits, he needs to play and play he does, very well. If you're lucky enough to have a ticket to his upcoming [and sold out - Ed] charity-fundraising headliner at Mencap: Little Noise Sessions, you might be surprised at just how pin-sharp the new material sounds when blasted through a stack of amps. It's all a far cry from the intimacy displayed on the preceding albums, in particular 2009's "Truelove's Gutter", but "...Sky's Edge" is a grower, a slow burner and an electric collection.

Hawley's next tour of sorts is a short hop over to Ireland (North and South) in December, before a Christmas break and the start of a new year. And with that new year comes more Hawley action. The singer and guitarist will be wielding his trusty Gretsch for a short excursion during February which is set to start in Bristol on 20th February, followed by Leamington Spa, Cambridge, London, Liverpool and Hull (so far).

We have tickets for all six shows now, with prices starting at £20 and rising to £22.50 for the London show (at East London's Troxy).