Darren Hayman & The Secondary Modern - Calling Out Your Name Again

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4...according to our Phil on Thu 28 Oct, 2010.

Well I thought I'd review Darren Hayman's new single. Never been a fan, as long time readers will know, but maybe it's time in my for me to confront my demons. 'Calling Out Your Name Again' is taken from his latest indie opus 'Essex Arms'. I don't know what Essex Arms are but I've seen the trailers for 'The Only Way Is Essex' on ITV2 and it looks frightening. Still, I reckon I could cope with just an arm but a full Essex person could tip me over the edge. This single features David Sheppard (of Phelan/ Sheppard fame) doing some interesting percussion on there which instantly makes the whole process more enjoyable. It's a 4 track EP of stripped down indie folk pop which isn't anywhere near as offensive as I thought it was gonna be. Essex Arms being my favourite on the EP as it's just a simple pop tune with some percussive fisting over a ye olde folk guitar with Hayman singing his voice all over it. Demon confronted... feel better... I don't mind this at all but I still don't like Hefner. I reckon that's a decent compromise!

4 track EP. For Fans Of: Hefner, The Wave Pictures, The Mountain Goats, Lambchop, The Incredible String Band, Fanfarlo, Emmy The Great, Ray Davies. Ex-Hefner frontman’s brilliant new duet with Emmy The Great Ex-Hefner frontman Darren Hayman met Emma-Lee Moss when they were both recording sessions for a radio station in North London. Like many, Darren was struck by the audacity of Emma-Lee’s “Emmy the Great’ stage name and decided to celebrate their new friendship by recording a duet.“I always assume singers younger than me don’t know shit,” says Darren of Emmy, “but watching Emmy play at the Union Chapel earlier this year was an education for me. Her wit, stage presence and intelligence are something to behold and of course she has those beautifully intricate songs.” For their duet Darren wrote a love song about illicit sex in parked cars. “The album Essex Arms is about love in unloved places. I wanted to sing about a lawless, hidden version of the countryside, but still treat the subject with tenderness and respect.” Darren continues to forge an increasingly, idiosyncratic career path; writing the theme tune and staring in a Spanish Sitcom, playing a 30 people capacity show in a 100 year old paper mache observatory and playing possibly Britiain’s most remote festival on the Isle of Eigg. Darren is also writing the best tunes of his career; increasingly complex and mature songs. His band, The Secondary Modern, are a tight, tough, but soulful folk-rock orchestra reminiscent of a more urban Incredible String Band or an Anglicized Lambchop. “Calling Out Your Name Again” is the second single to be released from Essex Arms, Darren’s latest album. Besides the title track, the EP includes three songs taken from the album sessions that are exclusive to this release – Essex Arms, Beach Head and Until We Got Bored. The single is also accompanied by a beautiful animated video with every frame hand drawn by Darren that can be found via http://www.hefnet.com. “London's laureate of sexual dysfunction, discomfort, and dog-eared under-achievement... the match of Ray Davies, or any of the quintessentially English masters.”

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