Gemma Hayes
Night on my Side

Distributed by
Source

• Year: 2002
• Rating: 8/10
• Cat. No: CDSOUR049

Track listing:

1. Day One
2. Hanging Around
3. Back Of My Hand
4. Over & Over
5. Let A Good Thing Go
6. Ran For Miles
7. What A Day
8. Tear in my Side
9. I Wanna Stay
10. Lucky One (Bird Of Cassadaga)
11. My God
12. Night On My Side

Another female singer-songwriter armed with a guitar and some introspective musings on life, love and all that jazz. Just what an already overcrowded genre needs, right? Well, perhaps... but perhaps not.

The debut set from 25-year old Gemma Hayes is not exactly groundbreaking, granted, sounding as it does like a mid-90s release on 4AD by some offshoot of the Breeders (she is actually on the Source label, home to Turin Brakes and Kings Of Convenience).

Yet there is no denying the quality of these songs, the best of which stand comparison with anything this vein of alt.pop has offered in the last decade or so. Comparisons are inevitable and almost involuntary, as Night On My Side travels through muscial and lyrical territory already trodden by the likes of Shawn Colvin, Tanya Donnelly and Kathryn Williams.

Let A Good Thing Go and Hanging Around, the album's first brace of singles, are underpinned by that Pixies/Breeders-esque insistent bass hum, blending with the soaring melodies quite wonderfully. Tear In My Side churns out a dirgesome, martial rhythm to hypnotic effect in true 4AD style. Gentler but no less memorable are I Wanna Stay, Over & Over and Back Of My Hand, showcasing Hayes' plaintive, if not exacty unique, vocal style.

Ultimately, the album will probably not win over anyone not already partial to this kind of thing through the myriad of similar artists past or present. Nonetheless, Night On My Side marks the arrival of a talent to watch in the future. How far she goes on from here will be interesting to see.

Review copyright © Liam Carey, 2002.