|
January 2011, former Hefner frontman Darren Hayman announced his intention to record and release a song every day throughout the month. The idea arose due to Darren’s frustration with the music industry. This is a songwriter who just wants to write and release songs but was finding his creativity being blocked due to record label politics. To get around this he decided to write, record and release the song on the same day through his website and in so doing bypassing the industry. Twelve months later the 31 songs are now available as a 1,500 press limited edition deluxe double CD, with a gatefold sleeve. In keeping with the DIY ethic of this project Darren has hand-drawn each single sleeve.
Writing 31 songs in a month is a task that many song writers would find daunting, not for Darren. Throughout his career in Hefner, with the Secondary Modern and as a solo artist he has never appeared to suffer from writers block. Song writing is what comes natural for Darren and never has that been more evident than in this collection of songs.
For fans of Darren Hayman this is a collectors item which will take pride of place in their collections. Will this win him any new fans? Probably not. There is no major change in direction in these songs, anyone familiar with his work will know exactly what to expect and will love the album for those very reasons; songs full of charm, intelligent lyrics and life fulfilling indie pop songs.
Standout tracks on the album include the opener ‘It Was Over’ which deals with the subject of a relationship coming to an end “I was drunk, I was low, how was I supposed to know, it was over?”. ‘Staying In’ which has a dreamy melody that ensures this is a song to drift away with. ‘Nothing At All’ which was recorded live in the Lexington in London and hearing the crowd singing along shows the anthemic quality of this song. ‘Esplanade Drive’ sees Darren pour is heart into a song, something which he does with such reflection and beauty. ‘I Know I Fucked Up’ which features Elizabeth Morris from Allo Darlin’ is enough to break even the strongest of hearts as Elizabeth sings “You were the best friend I almost had”. ‘Let Me Sleep’ which sees Darren reunited with his old Hefner bandmate Jack Hayter. ‘Tired of Getting Dicked Around’ recorded live helps to add to the warmth of this song.
Darren himself has admitted this collection is not up there with amongst his finest work, due to the constraints that he set himself he did not have time to rewrite or re-edit any of the songs. Out of the 31 songs on the collection there are some that you will skip through and to listen to the album from start to finish in one go does become a little tiresome. That said there are still more than enough gems on this album for any fans of twee indie pop to dive into and to gain great listening pleasure from this album.
Rating: 6/10
Steve Tay
|
