Credit Rich Gilligan
FROM BLIND FAITH, HAYES’ FIRST NEW ALBUM IN A DECADE, OUT SEPTEMBER 27 ON LP, CD, CASSETTE & DIGITAL FORMATS
PRE-ORDER HERE
“Another Love” is the new single from Mercury Prize-nominated singer-songwriter Gemma Hayes, out August 14 through Townsend Music via Absolute Label Services. The track is lifted from Hayes long-awaited sixth album Blind Faith, set for release on September 27 on LP, CD, cassette and digital formats. The Irish musician’s first new album since 2014’s Bones + Longing is accompanied by a UK headline tour, including London’s Union Chapel on September 28.
A poignant duet with fellow Irish singer-songwriter Paul Noonan (Bell XI) about two people leaning on one another for support at a time of mutual grief, “Another Love” is evidence that Hayes’s prowess as a storyteller is undimmed after a decade away. “Another Love is a lament,” she explains. “it deals with two characters being haunted by the ghost of someone they loved while finding comfort in each other’s arms. Both reveal that they do not love the other and that weirdly brings them closer together.”
Having taken the time and space she needed to figure out what she wants to tell the world. Hayes has plenty to say, with Blind Faith diving into themes of longing, empowerment, freedom and repression. While Hayes’s songwriting is as personal as ever, its abstract nature allows the listener to sink into each song, immersed by tender guitar picking, eerie synths and swooning cello. The album was produced by Hayes with Karl Odlum, David Odlum & Brian Casey, and features Lisa Hannigan on backing vocals on “Eye For An Eye” and “Feed The Flames.”
The youngest of eight children raised in the small village of Ballyporeen in County Tipperary, Gemma Hayes’ introduced herself to the world with her 2002 debut Night On My Side. With its deft production, ambitious arrangements and Hayes’ dreamy, rock-leaning vocal delivery, the album was a critical and commercial success and was nominated for the Mercury Prize.
Since then, she has released four critically acclaimed studio albums and a limited-edition live album, while her music is constantly in demand for film and TV placements. Her version of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game”, recorded for the US TV series Pretty Little Liars, now has over 24 million streams on Spotify alone, while she recently contributed to the soundtrack of the film adaptation of Roddy Doyle’s Greyhound of a Girl.
Gemma Hayes Blind Faith
01 Eye For An Eye
02 Central Hotel
03 Another Love
04 Hardwired
05 Feed The Flames
06 High and Low
07 The Break Didn’t Heal Right
08 Can’t Kill A Hunger
09 Return Of The Daughters
GEMMA HAYES ‘BLIND FAITH’ UK TOUR
Weds September 25 LIVERPOOL Philharmonic Music Room – Tickets
Thurs September 26 BRISTOL Strange Brew – Tickets
Sat September 28 LONDON Union Chapel – Tickets
Sun September 29 LEEDS Old Woollen – Tickets
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