With encouragement from her ex-Bowie guitarist father and seasons of experience belying her youthful 23 years, York-based HAYLEY HUTCHINSON eschewed the easy enjoyment of drinking with her college friends over the past couple of years to lock herself away in her room and hone the songs comprising her debut album "Independently Blue."
And the student bar's loss was surely our gain, it seems, because "Independently Blue" is a cracking debut. Hayley has earned the respect of seasoned musicians about town and roped in The Seahorses/ Yards' mainstays Chris Helme and Stuart Fletcher, Shed Seven producer Fraser Smith and a resourceful pool of local players to contribute imaginatively to what is an assured first effort.
Stylistically, it's broadly rootsy folk-rock, though there's a heady lnjection of pop, and tunes like the bright, ballsy opener "Deadman" and the immediately catchy "Here's The Love" rock robustly and are full-blooded and irresistible. Indeed, when Hayley maintains the tempo on tracks like "Minor Key" she hits the heights magnificently and the music possesses a beguiling drive.
Having said that, "Independently Blue" also works well when the pace slacks. Songs like "Climb Through" and "Fall Down" are primarily acoustic and close-miked vocally, with sensitive embellishments, while the title track is sweet and rootsy, with mandolins and acolyte Jimmy Hornsby adding attractive banjo. In places, Hayley's voice recalls the likes of Freakwater's Catherine Irwin or maybe Caitlin Cary, although on "Independently Blue" she even recalls Linda Thompson. Which from this pen is a real compliment.
|
But Hutchinson's very much her own creation, and ably demonstrates what she can achieve on tunes like "Find Myself Lost", where she copes beautifully with a drifting, emotional ballad of some grandeur. Or, at a tangent, there's "I Have To Say I Love You", which is the slowest, sparsest thing here and deliciously intimate.
If your reviewer has a criticism at all, it's that after the punch of some of the earlier tunes, "Independently Blue" perhaps palls marginally with a slew of slower, brittle tracks towards the close. But even here, especially on the deep, dark, questioning folk of "Say My Goodbyes" Hayley acquits herself admirably enough, and even these last few tunes have a whiff of star quality about them.
"Independently Blue," then, acquaints us with a fine young singer/ songwriter of some class who's distinctive, emotional and more than capable of delivering, even when surrounded by seasoned campaigners. Marvellous.
|
