Saturday 30 May 2009
Worthy of your esteem
(photo: Hardwood Records)
I remember when Hayden was being touted by some (sad sack) Canadian music press journalists as “Canada’s Beck”. The comparison did him no favours. A two-year old would have been able to tell you that, A) Heyden Desser sounds nothing like Beck Hansen, and B) why on earth would we need a “Canadian Beck”? While initially Hayden’s albums sounded like a rag-tag collection of grunge rock and alt country, over the years he’s grown to be far less an experimentalist than his so-called American counterpart, and more akin to the traditions of the singer-songwriter than anything approximating Odelay.
In the 14 years since he first gained widespread prominence with the release of Everything I Long For, Hayden has amassed an impressive canon of music that has mellowed and settled into a comfortable maturity. On his new album, The Place Where We Lived, he explores the more painful side of love. An album of break-up songs is never going to be a party record, but there’s still a joyful bounce to tracks like “Let’s Break Up” that almost make you forget the heart-wrenching lyrics contained therein.
The Place Where We Lived is out now on Hardwood Records, Hayden’s long-time home. While his official site doesn’t list any upcoming performances, I would imagine that sooner than later, he’ll be out on the road visiting the places where we live with this impressive collection of songs.
MP3: Hayden “Let’s Break Up”
Myspace: Hayden
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