You need to take a stand
The king of stately, pastoral album art returns!
Little more than a year has passed since Hayden Desser released the very Hayden-like In Field and Town. Like most Hayden albums it was kind of (really) sad and mostly about lady troubles (that is to say trouble with ladies). But it also featured a few of the brightest moments of his career to date as well: “Lonely Security Guard” was a lovely, upbeat character piece about a security guard whose real passion is origami and “Did I Wake Up Beside You?” — while an absolute lyrical downer — contained a chorus with a melody that is downright ebullient, especially for Hayden. After five albums of mostly misery, it was quite nice to see. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of it.
Enter The Place Where We Lived, an entirely new joint written on the road as Hayden and his mates in Cuff The Duke toured Canada and the U.S., opening for Feist and the National. Its hard to say if Hayden is loosening up on this record, but there are moments that definitely feel like he’s progressing very slowly towards showing some more of the levity and sense of humour he has displayed on stage.
It starts with the opening title track, which bobs along with an occasional guitar riff that is somewhat reminiscent of surf rock, or at least what might result from a surf guitarist listening to too many sad Hayden songs. That is to say its a little bit subdued. But the song on the
The real gem is “Let’s Break Up,” a tale of a “half-glass and…a sad sack” who both know the end is nigh, but only one is willing to admit it. Bolstered by an ebullient walking bassline, the half-glass pleads with the sad sack to cut the chord and let him start moving on. The Duke-sters provide a great don’t-call-it-country shuffle-and-stomp backing track and prop up Hayden’s lilting melody with a delectable high harmony that injects something entirely new into the singer’s oeuvre.
On the whole, however, there’s a lot of the slow, somber, acoustic songs that have been featured on his releases since forever. I’m not suggesting that when you do something exceptionally well you should force yourself outside of that comfort zone, but it seems telling that the most thrilling standout tracks on Hayden’s last few releases aren’t cut from his usual cloth.
Hayden - Let's Break Up [3:07m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Hayden - Dilapidated Heart [5:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadHayden’s CDs are far more reasonably-priced than his vinyl, but both are available from MapleMusic’s website. Dang ol’ iTunes has it too.
