It’s been over a decade since Gemma Hayes’ debut, Night on my Side, was nominated for the Mercury Prize and, if her music career hasn’t exactly floundered since, the beautiful Tipperary-born singer-songwriter hasn’t yet quite realised her obvious star potential. Financed through PledgeMusic and released on her own Chasing Dragons label, Bones + Longing is her fifth studio album – and may well prove to be her long-awaited breakthrough.
Produced by David Odlum and recorded in Dublin, London and Noyant-la-Gravoyere, her band on this outing comprises just Odlum and keyboardist Romy (though percussionist Mark Stanley guests on one track). The album kicks off with ‘Laughter’ – a shoegazing, MBV-style reworking of 2011’s ‘There’s Only Love’. The distorted lyrics are barely discernible under the fuzzy guitars: “Inside storm behind your eyes/ It’s where I stand/ Touching, guarded by the night/ You secure me.” It’s an unusual move to open with what’s ostensibly a cover of your own song, but it definitely works.
So begins a hop, skip and synthy jump through various sonic styles that somehow blend together seamlessly. Sounding like a slightly more melodic, early PJ Harvey track, ‘Dreamt You Were Free’ follows. Hayes has largely sustained herself financially by licensing songs to TV and film in recent years, and there’s a fine cinematic quality to some of these songs – most notably the lush ‘Iona’, ‘Dark Moon’ and the gloriously haunting title track (which closes the album).
There are also some harmoniously radio-friendly pop tunes in amongst the more ethereal and experimental material. The sweetly melancholic ballad ‘To Be Your Honey’ is a glorious reminder that Hayes is, at heart, a folk singer – albeit an extremely adventurous one. First cut ‘Chasing’ sounds suspiciously like an old Cure number, but the timeless ‘Palomino’ (“Ride with me boy on my palomino...”) and the wonderfully catchy, Fleetwood Mac-ish ‘Making My Way Back’ seem more likely to dent the charts. The sparse ‘Caught’, meanwhile, highlights just what a terrific voice she has.
All told, this fascinatingly varied collection of songs and styles amounts to Hayes’ finest album of her career to date.