Gemma Hayes
Happy Sad

Despite almost universal plaudits for her debut album, Gemma Hayes has not quite hit the big time yet but she’s moved to LA anyway. Whether she’s drinking Hennessey with Morrissey has yet to be confirmed but her music, pitched somewhere between Cardigans prettiness and angry woman rockiness, certainly has the potential to catch the ear of the mainstream.

On first listen her new album has a smoother sheen than it’s predecessor and the same can be said of its first single, as if she’s decided this is her last shot so she had better not waste it. The subject matter may be bittersweet but you can almost feel the afternoon sun shining out of this song, even as she sings _‘The roads don’t love you/They still don’t pretend to’_ in the coda; the harmonies over the chorus lend a **Joy Zipper**-esque quality but Gemma’s distinctive voice still retains it’s emotional edge. Which is of course her great asset, and with this it will hopefully liberate her from the endless turns supporting lesser bands and into some sunshine of her own.