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16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Sold out?, 16 Dec 2005
I found myself entranced by the debut album as much as the other reviewers here. Gemma Hayes has a special talent and is distinct in the market for numerous reasons. Currently the music industry is saturated with male solo song writers like Tom McRae, Damien Rice, David Gray, James Blunt and Jack Johnson. Looking for the female alternative, there are relatively few choices - and to me this was a major draw to Ms Hayes. I have always been a fan of acts like Joni Mitchell and PJ Harvey, so to have a young artist who is flying a flag is really refreshing. To cut to the chase, the debut was a very intimate affair, took a while to become familiar with and lasted long in the memory. The tracks stood out from each other and it was pretty easy to have a favourite. The Roads Don't Love You is not a simple album, is not as intimate, and has a similar style running though all the tracks. If I wanted to capitalise on the current spotlight on the aforementioned male singer songwriters, I would produce an album like this. Slightly more mainstream, almost pop in places, it ticks a lot of the right boxes - and this might be the problem. A lot of people who own and listen to Night On My Side, will feel she has sold out, became too bland and too mainstream. I am hanging on the edge of this group, I have no doubt this will become a huge album next year, but the personal attachment to a relatively unknown act will be lost when everyone starts buying the album. I can see what she was intending to do and I have seen it before. Jack Johnson release three albums before his latest offering, In Between Dreams. Each was fantastic, he had a small fan base, and he was pretty inspirational. When In Between Dreams came out, the small fan base embraced it. But it was a little more mainstream, little more commercially viable, little more radio friendly. Suddenly it started to sell, TV adverts pushed it and now everyone feels they know Jack Johnson. This is my fear with Gemma Hayes, she won't be one of my favourites any more - she will be everyone’s favourite. So yes, it is good, Happy Sad is brilliant, Easy On The Eye is as intimate as she gets, Keep Me Here is rhythmic and has a strong soaring chorus making it my favourite track - it is just a shame it is not another ground breaking release that snubs trends and doesn't worries about sales, and of course everyone else will know about her now! *** Like: Joni Mitchell, PJ Harvey, Beth Orton and Heidi Berry ***
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~ Gemma Hayes
~ Gemma Hayes
~ Lisa Miskovsky
~ Claire Sproule
~ Stephanie Kirkham
