GEMMA Hayes had quite a busy 2014. The Co Tipperary singer-songwriter had a baby boy, got married and released her fifth studio album – Bones + Longing.
It’s an excellent album and features the Ballyporeen woman’s stunning voice and her trademark mix of lo-fi acoustic tunes and surging guitars and ambient soundscapes.
Highlights include Laughter, To Be Your Honey, Chasing, Joy and the infectiously catchy Palomino; the title-track, the album's closer, is a lush and dreamy instrumental.
Was the album all written before your son Max was born?
It was written before and while I was pregnant with him. A few of the lyrics were written when he was just born but those songs were already dealing with other stuff. I’d say he’s not really in Bones + Longing except for the fact that when I was pregnant I was very hormonal and emotional. I think being really in touch with my feelings really helped the album.
The album title comes from a line in the song Joy. Did you know that would be the title from the outset?
I never really sit down and think about what the title will be; I’m always hopeful that during the process something will pop up and I’ll go `That kind of sums the whole thing up’. I knew the word 'bones’ was going to be in there and I knew it was about the idea of being mortal and having a limit. The songs are dealing with the fact that we’re going to die but there are all these things that I can’t imagine dying – like the love I feel for my little boy. Does that die with me or does that stay?
Do you think some songs on your next album will be about Max?
They probably will be but not in an obvious way. He’s definitely changed me, but I don’t even know how. I just feel slightly changed as a person, probably a little softer. I’d imagine the effect of having him will change how I write.
You play Whelan’s next weekend. Is that a special venue for you and did you go to many gigs there when you lived in Dublin?
It really is special. I’m just very comfortable in Whelan’s and it’s always a bit of craic. I went there constantly when I was in college. I went through a phase where I was obsessed by The Frames and I’d go to any gig they played. I spent a lot of special nights being incredibly inspired watching them. And I supported Sparklehorse when they played Whelan’s and that was such a wonderful gig.
Are you planning a Belfast date and other Irish gigs later in the year?
We’re looking at September and October gigs in Ireland and England, so I think we’ll definitely make it to Belfast. I just can’t be out there gigging the way I used to, so I’m trying to do pockets of gigs – because I take 'little man’ with me. I can’t wait until he’s old enough to carry my guitar for me!
Having spent a few years in Los Angeles before moving to London, is there anything you miss about LA?
I do miss the weather but other than that I really don’t miss it. It does its thing and I’d love to visit there again, but I’m at a different time in my life now. I’m getting all grown up, finally.
Which of the new songs have you enjoyed performing live so far?
To Be Your Honey is very intense live. It’s one of those ones where everything drops down to very little. And I’m really enjoying playing Laughter, which we’re going to put out as the next single in August. It has a great energy live.
Palomino is a brilliant tune. When was that written?
The chorus was written very quickly at 5am one time about three years ago. I was touring and staying in a really crappy hotel and I couldn’t sleep and I started humming and the lyrics and chorus came out. Then it took me a few months before it was finished.
Which song from your back catalogue would you say has been the closest thing to a hit for you?
I think the closest I got to it was Back of my Hand, way back when I started out. I’d love to have a song played on the radio loads but my music isn’t pop enough to be pop and isn’t indie enough to be pure indie; it lives in a kind of in-between place but I just keep doing what I do. A lot of people like Palomino, but it’s still not 'the big hit’. Thank God I don’t do it for that reason, because I’d be bitterly disappointed if I did. I imagine it would be such a good buzz, though. Maybe sometime...
:: Gemma Hayes plays the Set Theatre in Kilkenny on Thursday, Whelan’s in Dublin on Saturday June 27 and the Killarney Festival in Co Kerry on Sunday June 28. Bones + Longing is out now (GemmaHayes.com).
