Customer Reviews

Night on My Side

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Finally the long awaited debut c.d. from Gemma Hayes has arrived. Considering all the hype about her music you could say she was on a bit of a hiding to nothng with this c.d. It's fairly rare that a debut c.d. from a promising young artist lives up to that pressure-and she's done it on this debut c.d. with loads to spare.

She was quite clever in using such a respected and in vogue producer as Mercury Rev man Dave Fridmann. But any comparisons to the music of Mercury Rev are pretty non-existent on this c.d. Her music drifts between angsty blues filled ballads to hard rocking tracks that bear a closer resemblance to a P.J. Harvey then anyone else I can put my finger on. The minute you hear the guitars on track 8 "Tear In My Side" and you'll know exactly what I mean. She also adds some excellent slightly off-kilter harmonies to this track. In fact her record collection must be full of excellent alt. rock favourites. The bass line from track 3 "Back Of My Hand" mimics almost perfectly the sort of sound you'd hear from Peter Hook on New Order songs. Some of her more mellow numbers have a real retro feel of female solo artists from the 60's and 70's. maybe in years to come this c.d. will rank up there with the finest offerings from a Joni of Carole! There is a slight alt/country feel to the sound of tracks like "Over And Over" and on the title track. The other slower tracks have a more acoustic feel to them-yet Fridmann produces enough interesting effects so as to not make this another chilled out overly mellow sound. There is a real cutting edge to all of her songs. Lyrically tracks like the 7 minute "I Wanna Stay" and track 6 "Ran For Miles" are really heartfelt and full of just enough angst so that they don't come across sounding all Alannis like. In fact behind the acoustic chords of the latter you can hear the excellent feint sounds of a guitar loading up and getting ready to blare out loudly. She keeps the listener constantly on edge waiting for some unexpected sound to change the mood of the song.

There are plenty of quick tempo tracks here to prove that Hayes can rock with the best of them. Credit must go to a very accomplished backing band-who sound quite tight but not over-produced and over-rehearsed. In fact my favourite tracks on the album are two of these up-tempo tracks;"Hanging Around" and the amazing "Let A Good Thing Go". The latter track if it's given any airplay on alternative radio will help this album become huge-it's amazing.

This c.d. has been album of the week/month in many music publications over in the U.K. and in Ireland. Gemma Hayes could well be the next female solo mega-star. Forget Norah Jones and buy this album!

The debut album from Gemma Hayes is just totally incredible. From the opening track, "Hanging Around," to the closing track, "Evening Sun," Night on My Side is just totally amazing, saturated with artistic creativity.

*Interesting point: the U.S. version is different from the U.K version, and I'm not really sure why - the track listings have been altered, and the U.S. version was supposedly remastered and mixed differently than the U.K. version as well. I don't have a copy of the U.K. version yet, so the only thing I can vouch for is the track listings*

The album seems like it is divided right down the center: the first 6 tracks being the louder, more upbeat songs, and the last 6 track being more quiet and acoustic. The back artwork can attest to this - the first 6 tracks are labeled "DAY" and the last 6 tracks are labeled "NIGHT."

Every single song is fantastic; Gemma and supporting band members are truly talented musicians. I've been listening to the album non-stop, and I love the emotions that she can evoke. From Sarah McLachlan or Heidi Berry-style folk, to My Bloody Valentine or Jesus and Mary Chain inspired shoegaze, Gemma covers a fairly big chunk of musical territory with her own style. Once again, every single song is great, but my personal favorite has to be "Lucky One." This song is just achingly beautiful, and when that fuzzy guitar starts somewhere around the 1 1/2 minute mark, chills are sent through my spine.

Incredible music - listen to it and you'll love it. Go out and support these great musicians! You will not regret it.

I decided to take a chance on this album after seeing a feature in Entertainment Weekly that likened her to PJ Harvey, one of my favorite female artists. This comparison is pretty inaccurate, as Gemma Hayes doesn't appear to have PJ's abandon or libido, yet I guess I know what the reviewer was referring to. This girl can rock as hard as the best of them, and also has a sweeter more melancholy side to her music. She also has a fascination with cleverly multi-tracked vocals, which on some tracks might suggest Sheila Chandra's voice experiments and at other times are simply spine-tingling like the track "Tear In My Side", which seems to be a song about a deep trauma of some kind or a major heartache at the very least. But Gemma Hayes is not a gloom and doom merchant, far from it. These songs are as much about desire and passion as they are about loss and uncertainty. Other favorites are "Ran For Miles".."today I ran for miles, just to see what I was made of" and "Let A Good Thing Go" with a huge guitar riff and a bassline that wraps itself around the song like an uncoiling boa constrictor. Then there are more gentle moments towards the end of the album, some of which are not as engaging as the more rocking tracks that open the set, which is why I give it 4 stars instead of 5. Somehow though I get the feeling that the extra star will be redeemed in a very short time. An amazing new talent. Highly recommended. Note: CD is enhanced with a really well shot video for "Let A Good Thing Go". What a hottie!

I picked this record up by complete chance recently. I was buying a Grandaddy CD in Borders and Gemma Hayes was near it. It looked interesting so I scanned it in the listening station and ended up buying it.

My first impression was to compare it to Shawn Colvin, but with more edge. The album seems to have two distinct halves, the first, heavier half, and the second, more acoustic half. The songs themselves aren't very commercial, and it's somewhat refreshing to just hear intimate songs performed the way the artist intended them to sound, not glossed over with the slick radio treatment that permeate similar offerings.

These songs are unpredictable in the way bringing that off-color friend you have to a formal party might be - you never quite know what's going to happen next. You'll find yourself listening to a nice, acoustic guitar/vocal piece, and then suddenly you'll hear a dissonant cello creep in a half-step higher than the tonic, and then disappear as though it never happened. Very interesting stuff.

"Hanging Around" is a definite highlight, offering the most radio-friendly song and production on the CD. I'm partial to the latter half of the record where the alternate tuning acoustics take over. "My God" is particularly nice.

Ultimately, it's hard to pick the kind of audience this will appeal to. Shawn Colvin is a good reference point, although Hayes is not nearly as commercial. If that seems remotely appealing, then get it, and listen to it a few times. It definitely gets better with each listen, and you'll realize it's a multilayered record, offering more with every time through.

Our fair Gemma has been remixed, remastered, re-sequenced, re-paced and re-photographed to near-oblivion on this abomination of a reissue. Her US record company took a big gamble on this ground-up rethink of the album, and the results fall short on nearly every level (well, some of the photos are nice, though you'd think even the braintrust at Astralwerks would figure out that Gemma is one lass who doesn't need the "artistic" soft-focus to look gorgeous.)

On this ill-conceived attempt to break Gemma in the US market three selections ("Day One," "Over And Over," even the title track!) from the brilliant original have been excised in favor of tracks from other works which, while quite good on their own terms, simply don't belong here. The bass - arguably the finest musicianship on the original disc - has been de-emphasized. "Let A Good Thing Go" has been sped up! And all along, little quirks that made the original such an organic-sounding triumph along the lines of Beth Orton's "Trailer Park" and Shea Seger's "The May Street Project" have been mixed and/or edited out.

Would someone with no acquaintance with the original be this dissatisifed? Perhaps not - but I challenge anyone who *is* to justify choosing this over the real thing. (Note: "What A Day" appears as an uncredited "bonus track" after the industry-standard pregnant pause at the end of track 12.)

Okay, I admit that I fell for Gemma's sad eyes and her intellegent, fragile face, but that doesn't mean I still can't be objective, does it? This CD, her debut, is simply brilliant. Although I've played it almost continuously, only pausing to throw in a little Black Keys and Patricia Barber now and then, I still can't decide which song I like the best. "Tear N My Side," "I Let a Good Thing Go," are both woderful examples of unique and creative rock that reaches out and insinuates itself into your subconscious. While her music is emotive and full of saddness and passion, Gemma wraps her songs in powerful melodies that happily stay nestled in your head long after the disc stops spinning.

The only bad thing about this release is it leaves you wanting more. A lot more.

This album turned out to be far better than I anticipated. I had heard about from the astralwerks website and had heard one song. Well the album turns out to be even better. Gemman Hayes has a wonderful voice, lyrics sweet and full wonderful lines, the guitar work very nice. There's just no one comparable that I know of to her.

Gemma Hayes is a very strikingly beautiful 24 year old from Tipperary, Ireland. She decided about five years ago to drop out of college and try playing music. Her family was pissed. After a few years working in a launderette, and playing in local pubs, she got some support gigs for David Gray and Beth Orton. She waited two years to sign a record deal. Hayes spent that time developing her unique vision. Record companies were looking for the next PJ Harvey. She ended up signing with a French label and recording her album with Dave Fridmann at Tarbox Studios. Hayes' early songs were acoustic guitar and voice, so there were many comparison with Joni Mitchell. People don't realize that she came of age when a lot of that folk music is not on the radar. The Cure and My Bloody Valentine seem to be better starting points. "Back of My Hand" has a bass line as if played by Peter Hook. Much of the record takes as its subject relationships and love affairs. Songs like "My God" are almost too personal, and full of life and melancholy. The sparseness is moving. Just as the big sound of "Let A Good Thing Go" shows her range. This record is split up into "day" and "night" sides: the first part has more electric guitars and walls of sound; where "night" is more folksy and gentle. "Ran For Miles" sounds like a modern country song. All good things must end though. Gemma Hayes covers a lot of ground in this debut record, and draws us in to her world.

I subscribe to Astralwerks- a company who promotes a lot of new talent in the recording industry (not mainstream). My first introduction was to Beth Orton & later to Turin Brakes (both excellent). Now, I'm introduced to a marvelous singer/songwriter- Gemma Hayes. If you're looking for the next "soundtrack of your life" look no further. She is spectacular!

Incredible lyrics & genuinally new sound- pull yourself into the next decade with Gemma. Great mix of rock & folk-rock. She's amazing- & not at all bad to look at to boot- ...

buy "Night on my Side"- you will NOT be disappointed...you WILL become a convert...

Though Gemma Hayes' songwriting is folk- and country-based, centering around the acoustic guitar, her unusual melodic sensibilities, varied arrangements and lovely voice all help to give her music shadings beyond the usual coffee house crowd.

The Hayes sound is a seductive one, with crystalline acoustic guitar pickings and strummings (often in unusual tunings) augmented by hazy keyboards and eccentric electric guitars. "Let a Good Thing Go"'s sustained guitar tone almost evokes My Bloody Valentine, "Lucky One (Bird of Cassadaga)" opens at an almost inaudible volume but crashes into apocalyptic grooves; "Tear in My Side" skirts the line between pretty and ugly, with the sonorous harmony vocal (almost a taste of Alice in Chains here!) contrasting sharply with Hayes' sweet lead voice; "Back of My Hand"'s poppy tempo is complicated by an incredibly strange yet addictive keyboard line; and "What a Day" employs volume swells to give an almost pedal steel sound, nodding to country leanings. Through it all Hayes grounds the diverse sound palette in solid and structured songwriting, ensuring that expression is never sacrificed in favour of experimentation. At the bottom of it, happily, these are melodic rock songs, not just a mishmash of instruments.

I've had this record for over a month and I've yet to figure it all out. But it brings me back again and again with its unique sound, and each listening unfolds new pleasures. Highly recommended for those with a taste for the eccentric.