Staff Reviews

Darren Hayman - Florence

Review by Lee Adcock

Florence isn’t Hayman’s most ambitious or thrilling work ever, but it’s not supposed to be»

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Darren Hayman returns with a delicate and honest album, continuing his habit of making incisive, observational and beautiful albums. Written between Christmas and New Year at the end of 2014 in the Firenze flat of Elizabeth and Ola Innset Morris, Florence has a back-to-basics approach for Hayman, eschewing his recent collaborative, conceptual approaches for a humble and modest solo effort, entirely recorded and performed in the Italian apparetemento of his hosts. Darren Hayman is a thoughtful, concise and detailed songwriter. He eschews the big, the bright and the loud for the small, twisted and lost. For 15 years, and over 14 albums, Hayman has taken a singular and erratic route through England's tired and heartbroken underbelly. Hayman was influenced by punk through his art college years, but throughout the '90s he was inspired by American lo-fi indie-rock. A chance meeting with John Peel favourites New Bad Things and shows with them in London and Portland USA taught Darren the DIY ethic and soon he was self-releasing records by his first band, Hefner (1998-2003). Hayman's first solo albums, Table For One (2006) and The Secondary Modern (2007) charmed the critics - The Guardian opining that Hayman's profoundly English songwriting was "the match of Ray Davies." To support this burgeoning career, Hayman formed a backing band, The Secondary Modern. A loose, urban folk collective, they underpinned Hayman's concrete sorrow with rural violins and tired pianos. Hayman has since released a series of albums, largely focussed on place, allowing exploration of nuanced subjects in detail. A trio of albums based in Essex (2009's Pram Town and 2010's Essex Arms) culminated in 2012's The Violence, a 20 song account of the 17th century Essex witch trials, from which developed an album of English Civil War folk songs of the time (2013's Bugbears). Last year's Chants For Socialists saw Hayman set music to William Morris' words: an album of kindness and hope that brought Hayman's most critical acclaim yet. "His vision goes far beyond any other current independent artist and is a true treasure" Q Magazine - 12" black vinyl with download code. description from www.roughtrade.com