Biography
Huw Evans operates under the cryptic alias H. Hawkline, shaping melodic pop pieces laced with surreal touches that sit between post-punk angles and psych-pop haze. Frequent partnerships with Cate Le Bon highlight how his sharp, off-center melodies gain contrast from the direct vulnerability of his vocals.
The 2015 album In the Pink of Condition kept personal feelings veiled in abstract artistry, while 2023’s Milk for Flowers removed that filter, swapping guitars for pianos and centering Evans’ precise, grief-laden lyrics.
Raised in Cardiff, Wales, Evans borrowed the project name from Richard Brautigan’s 1974 gothic Western The Hawkline Monster. His first body of what he calls “strange pop” appeared independently in 2010 as A Cup of Salt.
The Strange Uses of Ox Gall followed in 2011, and the EP Black Domino Box arrived in 2012. Heavenly Records signed him in 2013, issuing the 2014 compilation Salt Gall Box Ghouls that collected earlier tracks. Evans headed to Los Angeles to cut his proper label debut, In the Pink of Condition, produced by fellow Welsh artist Cate Le Bon, after having played guitar in her band both live and on record.
Session work soon included guitar for Sweet Baboo and bass on Kevin Morby’s Harlem River and Still Life.
The fourth H. Hawkline album, I Romanticize, surfaced in June 2017, tracked in Los Angeles and Wales with a lineup of Evans, Le Bon, Warpaint drummer Stella Mozgawa, and keyboardist Josiah Steinbrick. After its release Evans stayed close to Le Bon, playing on her 2017 album Reward and co-producing 2022’s Pompeii.
A professional and personal link also developed with New Zealand singer/songwriter Aldous Harding; he joined her touring band and appeared prominently on both 2019’s Designer and 2022’s Warm Chris.
When Evans returned to recording, his songs turned toward intimate subjects while he processed his mother’s death, shifting to an organic palette built around pianos instead of jagged post-punk guitars. Le Bon produced the resulting 2023 album Milk for Flowers, which featured Tim Presley on guitar, Boy Azooga’s Davey Newington on drums, Paul Jones of Group Listening on piano, and a horn section drawn from members of Sweet Baboo and Younghusband. Heavenly released the record in March 2023.
The 2015 album In the Pink of Condition kept personal feelings veiled in abstract artistry, while 2023’s Milk for Flowers removed that filter, swapping guitars for pianos and centering Evans’ precise, grief-laden lyrics.
Raised in Cardiff, Wales, Evans borrowed the project name from Richard Brautigan’s 1974 gothic Western The Hawkline Monster. His first body of what he calls “strange pop” appeared independently in 2010 as A Cup of Salt.
The Strange Uses of Ox Gall followed in 2011, and the EP Black Domino Box arrived in 2012. Heavenly Records signed him in 2013, issuing the 2014 compilation Salt Gall Box Ghouls that collected earlier tracks. Evans headed to Los Angeles to cut his proper label debut, In the Pink of Condition, produced by fellow Welsh artist Cate Le Bon, after having played guitar in her band both live and on record.
Session work soon included guitar for Sweet Baboo and bass on Kevin Morby’s Harlem River and Still Life.
The fourth H. Hawkline album, I Romanticize, surfaced in June 2017, tracked in Los Angeles and Wales with a lineup of Evans, Le Bon, Warpaint drummer Stella Mozgawa, and keyboardist Josiah Steinbrick. After its release Evans stayed close to Le Bon, playing on her 2017 album Reward and co-producing 2022’s Pompeii.
A professional and personal link also developed with New Zealand singer/songwriter Aldous Harding; he joined her touring band and appeared prominently on both 2019’s Designer and 2022’s Warm Chris.
When Evans returned to recording, his songs turned toward intimate subjects while he processed his mother’s death, shifting to an organic palette built around pianos instead of jagged post-punk guitars. Le Bon produced the resulting 2023 album Milk for Flowers, which featured Tim Presley on guitar, Boy Azooga’s Davey Newington on drums, Paul Jones of Group Listening on piano, and a horn section drawn from members of Sweet Baboo and Younghusband. Heavenly released the record in March 2023.
Albums
Singles
