Album review: Darren Hayman – Essex Arms
Former front man and songsmith of indie legends and John Peel favourites Hefner, Essex born Darren Hayman has a gift for writing contemporary, very British folk songs that get to the heart of love and life, songs that every man and woman in the country could relate to. So it’s always struck me that the fact he’s never managed to have an impact on the charts is more the fault of the record buying public than of Darren Hayman. Now back with ‘Essex Arms’ his third album with backing band ‘The Secondary Modern’ will Hayman fare any better?
‘Essex Arms’ is no great departure from the Darren Hayman we know and love, though maybe he’s showing his age as the majority of the songs here are generally slower and have a more reflective feel. That’s not to say he can’t rock out as proved on ‘Nothing You Can Do About It’ which reminds me of ‘The World Turned Upside Down’ and the calypso ‘Calling Out Your Name Again’, a duet with Emmy The Great and one of the many highlights of the album. With Darren Hayman it’s all about the lyrics though, be it through social commentary on ‘Dagenham Ford’ a song about the closure of the car plant which affected so many families to ‘Drive Too Fast’ a song about a car crash where out of nowhere he drops a reference to a Brookside storyline from 1994; You look like the lesbian from Brookside/the one that everybody wants to look like/your unpretty sister doesn’t seem to mind/getting left behind/one more time.
‘Essex Arms’ is not so much an album about Essex, more an album of songs involving characters and situations that could be anywhere in the country but happen to be set in Essex, and it’s stunning! 4/5
www.myspace.com/darrenhayman
www.hefnet.com
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