Flash thunderstorms and a dodgy downpipe have seen water flooding in through the catflap at home, covering the the recently-installed kitchen floor.

But a mate's been round to sort it, the damage doesn't look too bad and it quickly becomes clear that it's going to take a lot more than a couple of inches of rainwater to dampen Hawley's enthusiasm for this, his sixth studio offering.

We're ensconced in Hawley's city centre HQ at Fagan's and it's a big night. Richard's six-month-old Border Collie is making his first visit to Broad Lane and seems as comfortable in the surroundings as the bloke at the other end of the lead, laying across the entrance to the snug like a living doorstop.

"He's made a massive difference to me,'' says Hawley. "I walk miles with him and I honestly feel a lot more calm, more mellow.''

"You don't think that could have something to do with finishing the album?'' offers landlord Tom Boulding from the across the bar. "Aye, that could have something to do with it.''

It's certainly been a hectic schedule of late. Tour dates with Elbow and co-producing the critically-acclaimed Made in Sheffield album for Tony Christie last year were followed almost immediately by the start of eight solid months putting together Truelove's Gutter.

READ MORE OF OUR RICHARD HAWLEY SPECIAL:
Different sounds and accidental discoveries
Moving stories behind the music
REVIEW: Truelove's Gutter by Richard Hawley (Mute)

So where did the name come from?

Apart from Hawley's first solo work, variously referred to as Richard Hawley, the mini-album or, by the man himself, Prize Bingo after the sleeve artwork, his other four albums have featured distinctive Sheffield titles. Late Night Final, Lowedges, Coles Corner and Lady's Bridge set a theme which looks unlikely to change any time soon.

He said: "I was thinking of having a break from the whole Sheffield thing and toyed with various ideas but none of them seemed to have any depth or meaning. I couldn't relate to taking a line out of the lyrics or anything like that.

"I was with (local historian and friend) JP Bean and Truelove's Gutter came up. I found it when I wasn't looking for it, if that makes any sense.

"For me, the title has to fit with what the album is about, and this one is about how experiences in life are supposed to be enriching, but I've often found that certain experiences have left me feeling like something is missing.

"The name actually comes from a really old Sheffield family - some of the earliest Sheffield names I've found are Truelove, Hawley and Staniforth - but the juxtaposition of a word like truelove with gutter just puts me in mind of a place where broken things end up.''

So is the finished article worth all the effort of the last eight months?

"Absolutely. This is the album I always wanted to make. Lyrically and in almost every way, it's the best thing I've done by a country mile.''
It might also be the bravest, both for Hawley and his record company Mute, a label widely recognised for its adventurous musical spirit

"Daniel Miller (Mute's founder and director) and my A&R man Dean Wengrow came to talk to me and Graham (Wrench, Hawley's manager) right at the start and asked me if I'd got an album in me that I'd want to do but was basically too scared. I said, yes, I'd got vanloads of stuff and Daniel said do that one. I told him that there'd be no singles on it and he said just go ahead.

"I really admire him for that. There's a lot going on with the economy but now is not the time to let creative cowardice take over.

"Music has become too bland, there's not enough risk-taking. I'm sick to death of there not being much interesting on the radio.

"I'm not sure this is going to be to everyone's taste. I might be in danger of losing quite a few fans, we'll have to see.

"But I didn't want to get complacent. It would have been easy for me to write three-minute pop songs and get the radio airplay but I thought it would be a lot more adventurous and interesting to push myself as a writer and musician. If you've got radio airplay at the back of your mind, it limits you from the start.

"I've been writing pop songs since I was 14 and find it fairly easy. This album was incredibly difficult. We started out with about 50 songs and got it down to eight. That's pretty savage, it was a bit of a masscare.

"The last one was what I call my pop album. I think that was a reaction against what was happening at the time.''

Hawley's father, Dave, died midway through the recording of Lady's Bridge and Hawley said: "A large part of that album is me trying to put a brave face on things, both musically and literally. People would ask me how I was and I'd say ok, but I really wasn't.

"This record is probably a reflection of that time. Pride is a strange word sometimes, but I am proud of the way I conducted myself. I didn't know I had that strength in me.''

Not that fans are likely to feel short-changed by the number of tracks on Truelove's Gutter. At least two of the songs are around the 10-minute mark and the whole thing clocks in at 51 minutes-plus

"I think the album has some pretty psychedelic overtones. That wasn't deliberate, it just turned out that way. There are some longish guitar solos in there, like on Remorse Code. When we came to do that one drummer Dean Beresford was playing it with his hands instead of the sticks and I loved it. We recorded it live in one take and that's just under 10 minutes.''

So is that the longest track on the album? "No, Don't You Cry just beats it.''

Part of the process for putting this album together saw Hawley largely disengage from what he calls 'the whole media thing'. He said: "I wanted it to be very much an internal process, with as few external influences as possible. I've watched very little TV and listened to even less radio - apart from the news on Radio 4 and the odd programme I really wanted to watch.

"It's been the same with music. I've listened to Gabor Szabo (an obscure Hungarian guitarist who died more than 20 years ago) and Alice Coltrane - and Jarvis's new album of course - but that's pretty much it. I think the batteries on the iPod ran out some time last September!''

Hawley has now had 10 years as a solo artist - that's longer than the time he spent individually with Treebound Story, Longpigs or Pulp.

"I was 32 and everybody - my dad, Jarvis and others - were saying if you don't do it now, you never will.

"Well I'm still doing it at 42 so I'm either insane or I must be doing something right.

"When I was young, probably about 9 or 10, I remember talking to my grandad about wanting to be a musician. He told me 'well, you've got to realise you might not make it'. I wasn't very happy at the time but it was probably one of the best pieces of advice anyone has ever given me. It stops you relying on your ego and reminds you it's all about the music.''

- Truelove's Gutter is out now.