Young, blonde, and hotter than donut grease - musical careers have been made (and, in Britney Spears' case, derailed) on much less than this. On her new CD "The Hollow of Morning," Tipperary-born Gemma Hayes proves that she is much more than just a pretty face.
She is an Irish sister-in-arms to Jewel and Dido, offering an enticing package of lilting poetry, catchy acoustic melodies and a come hither persona that comes at you loud and clear, despite her penchant for whispering throughout The Hollow of Morning.
Fans who bought The Cake Sale, the all-star CD benefiting Oxfam that featured the Frames, Snow Patrol and Bell X1, might remember the gorgeous, introspective "All the Way Down" that she contributed to the collection.
The disc opens with "This Is What You Do," a note-perfect coffee house ditty that delivers a decaf shot of angst.
"My tired eyes are like lonely stars/trying to find some order in the chaos/you look so happy, but me I'm barely hanging on," she sings.
"January 14" is less than two minutes in length, but it is packed with the stark imagery of trees "that are bare" and "swallows that have flown." It is an open letter to someone the singer misses, and it is a hurt that sounds fantastic.
"Sad Ol Song" is a tune that is aptly named. In a jaded, agitated delivery, Hayes sings about sad songs that sting your eyes and get stuck in your rib cage.
"In Over My Head" is another tune that makes gorgeous art from utterly depressing circumstances. "Kept all the things you wrote/I take them with me where I go/it keeps the blackness from the door/it makes me happy/stand let the winter warm your skin/it leaves you when you least expect." She is one bad hairdo and makeup job away from the desolate prose of Robert Smith and the Cure with lyrics like that!
On "Home," she does her best Cure imitation, with breathy lyrics delivered on top of watery guitars and atmospheric percussion. It isn't a bad pop rock tune, but all things considered, the straight acoustic arrangements play to her strengths better than the rock of this track.
The music on The Hollow of Morning has a sunny quality to it that flies in the face of some of the bleak prose it is paired with. "Under a Canopy" is a gorgeous, jazzy instrumental that mixes lighter-than-air flutes, gentle acoustic picking, and softly brushed percussion. She uses the same off-kilter harmonies that have made the likes of Damien Rice and Glenn Hansard stand apart from the other folkies coming out of Ireland these days.
Like most rock and roll beginnings, Hayes left the familiar - university and her job in a launderette - to sign with a small hip record label and, after a couple of well-received EPs, recorded the debut album Night on My Side in 2002. The debut won critical acclaim and was nominated for the U.K.'s prestigious Mercury Music prize.
Night on My Side was an embarrassment of riches in the songwriting department. Each one of the fuzzy alt-rock guitar tunes was a gem. Flush with success, she suffered from writer's block as she set off to record her second album.
"Sometimes when you come off the road, you get the blues," says Hayes in her press release. "You don't know what on earth you're going to do with your life. I had that feeling for two years."
With the same determination that saw her take a gamble in the first place, she rolled the dice for a second time and came up with gold once again. In the summer of 2004, she closed herself off from the universe in a remote part of Co. Kerry and began to write. From there, she headed to the sunshine of Los Angeles to record with some of the best session musicians in the business to create The Roads Don't Love You.
For her latest, Hayes enlists the help of producer David Odlum and help from Kevin Shields, Paul Noonan and Joe Chester, Irish musical luminaries that add interesting acoustic textures to her compositions.
With this much looks and talent on her side, Hayes is poised to make it big here. iTunes recently named Hollow of the Morning a "hot pick," and she will be supporting her old pals Bell X1 as they make a run for New York audiences on June 4 at Irving Plaza. This will be a killer double bill, so get your tickets now!
For more information, visit myspace.com/gemmahayes.