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Darren Hayman

Darren Hayman - I Tried and I Tried and I Failed [Digital]

Artist: Darren Hayman
Title: I Tried and I Tried and I Failed
Format: Digital single
Cat#: Fika079SG1
Release date: 24th January 2020
Bandcamp | Spotify

Darren Hayman returns with the new album Home Time, due out on 3 April via Fika Recordings. An autobiographical album about break ups, the record is tender, honest and frequently funny. Darren set an 8 track, acoustic rule for the record. Everything sounds warm, close and intimate. Darren’s own love-worn, London voice is joined on every song by the sweet antipodean tones of Hannah Winter and Laura K, recording artists and songwriters themselves with Common or Garden and Fortitude Valley.

When Darren Hayman made his debut in 1997 with the acclaimed indie band Hefner his lyrical remit was the broken hearted. His early songs told the story of the lonesome and lost, and broken dreams of love on the back streets of London. After Hefner, Hayman’s palette grew to include a unique take on place and memory. In the early 2000s he wrote a trilogy of albums around the history of Essex. In 2012 he made an instrumental album describing the tranquillity of Lidos. In 2016 Darren was awarded ‘Hardest Working Musician’ by the Association of Independent Music for his epic project on Thankful Villages, the 55 villages that survived the Great War with no casualties. His most recent record, 12 Astronauts, tells the personal story of the only men to have walked on the Moon.

Darren is continually obsessed with the idea of what songs can be, and the stories they can tell. As he explains, “With projects like Thankful Villages, I became interested in what a record could be, using field recordings, interviews and songs to make sound collages. I wanted to return to the stricter art of song writing and try and make the twelve best compositions I could. I wanted to make useful songs, words that could be comfort, not just thoughts that would depress.”

The songs for Home Time were written over a three-year period but recorded quickly, and with love, in Darren’s home. Home Time is a fragile, subtle slice of prettiness. Wrap it around you.

Three digital singles will be released; ‘I Tried and I Tried and I Failed’, a song about the endless, circular nature of being human, ‘I Was Thinking About You’, a song about the uncontrollable nature of memory and how it continues to haunt us even when we consider the long buried, and ‘The Joint Account’, about how when trying to negotiate matters of the heart and mind, it is sometimes the physical objects that anchor us down in the mire.

A baby sister album I Can Travel Through Time with ten one-minute songs squeezed on a seven inch is coming out alongside it on the Formosa Punk label.

'I Tried And I Tried And I Failed' is a key component of the album, with its gentle ruminations taking on a subtly meditative quality. Darren Hayman's indie pop roots shine through, with his melodic turn of phrase matched to a desire for originality that has only increased over time.Clash Music premiere

this playful little single. The track revolves around two lyrical lines, and that’s it; still, the thematic element kind of encourages you to get up and try and try again, no matter what the outcome…that seems to be the nature of all our lives, making sense of our failuresAustin Town Hall

I Tried and I Tried and I Failed.jpg

May 4th: Darren Hayman "Farewell Thankful Villages"

A Thankful Village is a village where every soldier returned alive from World War 1. After spending five years making three albums and visiting fifty four villages Darren and his band present one last show of songs and stories from rural England.

Support from Jessica's Brother and Alice Hubble.

Doors 1930
Alice Hubble 2000-2030
Jessica's Brother 2045-2115
Darren Hayman 2130-2230

Advance tickets £10+bf from We Got Tickets or from Dice.

The Winter Sprinter 2018 - full line up!

Presented by Fika Recordings, WIAIWYA and Gare du Nord

Tues 2 January - Fri 5 January at The Lexington, London, N1

4 day early bird passes available for £34.50 and individual day tickets for £11 adv at www.wegottickets.com/fikarecordings

Tues 2 Jan: The Surfing Magazines Pete Astor Jessica’s Brother

Wed 3 Jan: Steven Adams & The French Drops Fever Dream Charmpit

Thurs 4 Jan: Laetitia Sadier The Leaf Library Enderby’s Room

Fri 5 Jan: Darren Hayman Ralegh Long Picturebox

Four nights, three labels, twelve bands, DJs… the perfect antidote to the post-Christmas blues in the intimate surroundings of The Lexington. Thanks to Track & Field and Fortuna POP!; without their previous stewardships of the Winter Sprinter, we'd all be sat at home feeling glum the first week of January.

The Surfing Magazines The Surfing Magazines are a new garage-rock group consisting of two thirds of The Wave Pictures and one half of Slow Club. Consisting of David Tattersall and Franic Rozycki of The Wave Pictures, Charles Watson of Slow Club and drummer Dominic Brider. Not content with their already ferocious work rate, with three album releases in 2016 alone and over twenty in total between them; members of The Wave Pictures and Slow Club’s 11-track debut as Surfing Magazines is an intriguing and exciting mishmash of musical styles – soundtrack surf, weird pop and Americana. Pulling in influence from all of the great surf music of the 60s and the band’s musical inspirations of Bob Dylan and Lou Reed, the band are professedly ‘at war’ with today’s pretentious prog-indie-rock millionaires and bongo pop demigods. They intend to ‘rock out and blow your mind, and then mellow out and soothe your mind, then rock out again’.

Pete Astor Pete has made records as part of The Loft, The Weather Prophets, The Wisdom of Harry and Ellis Island Sound on Creation, Matador, Heavenly and more. He released Spilt Milk on Fortuna Pop in 2016 and has now signed to Tapete Records, home of The Clientele, Lloyd Cole and The Monochrome Set. Pete has been recording a new album with with James Hoare (Ultimate Painting, Proper Ornaments, Veronica Falls) on guitar and The Wave Pictures’ rhythm section of Franic Rozycki on bass and Jonny Helm on drums.

Jessica’s Brother Jessica’s Brother are singer songwriter Tom Charleston, bass player Charlie Higgs (formerly of The Ramshackle Union Band), and drummer Jonny 'Huddersfield' Helm (of The Wave Pictures). They make rock music with strong Americana influences, and a twist of English gothic darkness.

Steven Adams & The French Drops In the wake of critically acclaimed solo album, 2016's intimate 'Old Magick', and several years of one man shows, Steven Adams has a new band. He's joined by Daniel Fordham and David Stewart, rhythm section with psych-folk oddballs The Drink, guitarist Michael Wood (Singing Adams/The Leaf Library/Hayman Kupa Band) and a rotating cast of guest musicians. Steven Adams, aka, The Singing Adams, aka Steven James Adams, was in The Broken Family Band.

Fever Dream Fever Dream play dark, fuzzy, menacing music that blurs the line from noisy shoegaze to angular post-punk. Intense, melodic and expansive, they are a real treat live and have really good hair.

Charmpit Originally from California but now based out of South-East London, self-described ‘pop punk anarcuties’ Charmpit mash up sugary sweet melodies, lo-fi production and semi-serious subject matter to take a stab at society’s injustices whilst still keeping everything suitably fun. The band formed for the First Timers festival at DIY Space For London last year, a festival where every band on the line-up is playing their first show.

Laetitia Sadier Lætitia Sadier has arguably one of the most recognizable voices in music. Since arriving on the European indie scene back in 1991 with the first Stereolab EP, Super 45, Sadier’s vocal and lyrical approach has remained consistent: She applies her crystalline alto to lyrics that explore philosophy and political inequality through a Marxist lens. In Stereolab and as a solo artist, Sadier’s musical tastes have tended to skew nostalgic, mixing influences of 1960s pop from the U.S. and Brazil, easy listening, and German kosmische.

The Leaf Library The Leaf Library make droney, two-chord, pop that00!0!00s stuck halfway between the garage and the bedroom, all topped with lyrical love songs to buildings, stationery and the weather.

Enderby’s Room Enderby’s Room is fiddle player Dan Mayfield, once from rural Lincolnshire, but he has now found home living in London. His folk tinged songs reflect on his traditional folk upbringing. Mayfield has played violin for many artists including Daniel Johnston, Darren Hayman, The Wave Pictures, Allo Darlin’ and the Belles of London City morris dancers.

Darren Hayman Darren Hayman is a thoughtful, concise and detailed songwriter. He eschews the big, the bright and the loud for the small, twisted and lost. Hayman has taken a singular and erratic route through England’s tired and heartbroken underbelly. Formerly the singer-songwriter of Hefner, Darren Hayman has developed an increasingly idiosyncratic solo career. In recent years Darren has released four albums under his own name - Chants for Socialists where he set William Morris’ words to music; the sister remix album Dubs for Socialists; the album Florence, recorded in Italy; and an album for children called Folk Lullabies for Children and the Childless. As well as writing and recording as himself, Darren has also recorded an album with the band he’s formed with Emma Kupa of Mammoth Penguins (The Hayman Kupa Band), played drums for Papernut Cambridge, keyboards for The Great Electric, and released an EP with his experimental electronic duo Brute Love. Darren has also has been working on an ongoing, hugely ambitious folk project called Thankful Villages, visiting all fifty four 'Thankful Villages', a village in Britain where every soldier returned alive from World War One. Darren visited each of these and, focusing on village life, made a piece of music, a painting and a short film for every one. Some take the form of instrumentals inspired by the location, some are interviews with village residents set to music, others are new songs with lyrics or found local traditional songs.

Ralegh Long English Songwriter Ralegh Long released his recent album Upwards of Summer earlier this year, which won the Help Musician's UK / PledgeMusic Emerging Artist's Award. There is a marked change of pace from his previous records Hoverance and We Are in the Fields, with the jangle of chorus guitars, mandolins and anthemic hooks calling to mind bands such as R.E.M, The DB's, and the Go-Betweens. Written during a time of personal change, when Long was unsure if he was going to continue making music, Upwards of Summer is a revelation. He released his debut album Hoverance to critical acclaim in 2015. Leaving his adopted London, Long returned to his childhood home to write an album of singular grace and simplicity, steeped in natural imagery and "Spooky pastoralism" (MOJO). Hoverance and its follow-up E.P We Are in the Fields (2016) won praise from The Guardian for their “twilit ambience and demented beauty” and from Sky Arts as "calling to mind the atmosphere of Nick Drake".

Picturebox Melodic indie pop music from the cathedral city of Canterbury. Songs about girls, animals, football, anything, everything, nothing. They’ve released two albums on Gare Du Nord and are currently finishing off their third. Leader Robert Halcrow is also involved in the FXU2 project with Jack Hayter and Citizen Helene, and also plays bass for Papernut Cambridge and more recently Twink & The Bare Nodes.

City, Town and Country: a three day residency with Darren Hayman

City, Town and Country Web We're very excited to announce a three day residency with Darren Hayman at the The Betsey Trotwood in January - we'll be announcing special guests shortly for each night, who will all be incorporating the evening's theme in to their set.

City, Town and Country A three day themed residency with Darren Hayman.

Monday 18th: City with Dearbhla Minogue and one more TBA City themed songs from "We Love The City" and others

Tuesday 19th: Town with Deerful and one more TBA Town themed songs from "Local Information". "Pram Town" and others

Wednesday 20th: Country with Maia Sofia and one more TBA Country themed songs from "Essex Arms", "Great British Holiday EPs" and others

Tickets are available from WeGotTickets

We'll be announcing the final support for each evening in January - we're very excited and know you'll be in for a treat...

In the meantime, here's a wonderful video review of Darren's Florence record from The Guardian's Alexis Petridis.

Darren Hayman - Florence [12"]

Artist: Darren Hayman
Title: Florence
Format: 12” album
Cat#: Fika048
Release date: 6th Nov 2015
Bandcamp | Spotify

Darren Hayman returns with a beautifully delicate and touchingly honest album simply titled Florence after the city in which it was created. This is his very first purely solo album, featuring no other musicians. It was written and recorded between Christmas and New Year at the end of 2014 in the Firenze flat belonging to Elizabeth Morris (Allo Darlin’) and Ola Innset (Making Marks). Continuing his habit of making incisive, observational and beautiful albums, with Florence Hayman has taken a back-to-basics approach, eschewing his recent collaborative, conceptual approaches for a humble and modest solo effort, entirely recorded and performed in the Italian apparetemento of his hosts.

Best known as the singer-songwriter of the phenomenally successful and much-loved Hefner, Darren Hayman is now 15 years, and over 14 albums, into an increasingly idiosyncratic career path, where he has taken a singular and erratic route through England’s tired and heartbroken underbelly. Darren is also writing the best tunes of his career; increasingly complex and mature songs, he is a thoughtful, concise and detailed songwriter. 

Hayman’s first two solo albums, Table For One (2006) and The Secondary Modern (2007), charmed the critics – with The Guardian opining that Hayman’s profoundly English songwriting was “the match of Ray Davies”. Mostly joined by his band The Secondary Modern – a loose, urban folk collective, underpinning Hayman’s concrete sorrow with rural violins and tired pianos – he has released a series of albums, largely focused on place. This allowed for the exploration of nuanced subjects in detail, with a trio of albums based in Essex (2009’s Pram Town and 2010’s Essex Arms) and culminating in 2012’s The Violence, a 20 song account of the 17th century Essex witch trials. From this he developed an album of English Civil War folk songs of the time (2013’s Bugbears) and stayed with the historical theme for this year’s Chants For Socialists, which saw him set William Morris’ words to music, creating an album of kindness and hope that brought Hayman’s most critical acclaim yet.

Florence is sparse and poignant. Tinged with melancholy and etched with heartache, revealing the very best of Hayman’s considerable songwriting verve, this collection of songs shows what you can achieve whilst on holiday at a friend’s house, taking refuge in the winter quiet during the festive season.

Press for Florence

"Perfectly poised romances on intimate solo outing from ex-Hefner man... Florence is a beautiful, bespoke gem of an album... Italian jobs come no finer." Uncut [8/10]

"Its delicately observed song cycle unfolds like a novella or short film, with tracks that might seem slight in isloation gaining resonance in situ." Q [3/5]

"This lack of concept has enabled Hayman to go back to the universal motifs of love and loss that served him so well as the frontman of indie favourites Hefner. And we’re glad to report that he’s right back on the money from the word go. First track Nuns Run The Apothecary turns a stream of mundane details into something inexplicably heartbreaking, with little but a softly strummed guitar as an accompaniment. This is Hayman’s gift – the ability to elevate the quotidian to heights that are almost sacred... Hayman has made a career out of surprising his listeners, and Florence – cutting and pretty, grubby and sexy – is one of his best surprises yet." Folk Radio

"In some ways this is my favourite Hayman album for some time. It’s got the song writing of the best of his Essex trilogy and the warmth of much of his January songs project, recorded at this same time of year and involving him writing, recording and releasing a song a day with help from his musical friends and social media community, including my own dog. Although in a different city to his native London this most melancholy of times of year once again provides the perfect inspiration for his songwriting." Neon Filler

"Florence is another excellent addition to Darren Hayman’s sterling oeuvre" The Line Of Best Fit [8/10]

"Since his folk rock outfit Hefner split in 2002, Darren Hayman has released 12 solo record. His 13th is the first to not feature any other musicians, and unfolds like a giant lullaby." NME [3/5]

"It is Hayman’s attention to detail that elevates his songs beyond being simple little ditties: the cream in Break Up With Him; the elaborate directions and descriptions of key size in the quite beautiful Nuns Run The Apothecary. Safe Fall describes a woman who has presumably given up on herself, hair dye growing out, nail paint chipped, losing grip, and wrapped in fleas. There’s no judgement here though, just a prayer for someone down on their luck and finding life a little too much. It’s heartbreaking... Like the rest of the album, it is full of understated charm and is quite, quite beautiful." Music OMH [8/10]

"Florence isn’t Hayman’s most ambitious or thrilling work ever, but it’s not supposed to be. A moment’s rest can work wonders on a tired soul. The number below is just a number, an objective assessment that demands me to juxtapose this with other 7s, 8s, and the rest of Hayman’s work. That doesn’t mean you couldn’t fall in love with this album, or at the very least fall into a lovely chat with it and feel a little less lonely for an evening." Drowned In Sound [7/10]

"Stripping things back allows Hayman to concentrate on the songs and opener ‘Nun Run the Apothecary’ is an autumnal acoustic delight and even if ‘Break Up With Him’ uses drum machines they are minimal and unintrusive. My favourite songs are those which keep to the simple guitar and vocal blueprint. ‘From the Square to the Hill’ is a lovely delicate thing using clipped guitars to create the kind of melancholy that will appeal to fans of Kings of Convenience." Norman Records [7/10]

"Darren Hayman continues the tradition of indie singer-songwriters breathing new life into the hackneyed love song. He achieves this by way of convincing detail (as on Nuns Run The Apothecary and Post Office Girl) or unexpected directness (Didn’t I Say Don’t Fall In Love With Him and Break Up With Him)." Record Collector [3/5]

"Across the album, there are moments to savour: a charming fuzzy guitar solo on 'From the Square to the Hill'; an Americana-infused guitar riff on 'When You're Lonely, Don't Be', a gradual layering of guitar lines and multi-tracked vocals on 'Didn't I Say Don't Fall In Love With Him' and, as the album draws to a close, a pretty slice of psych-folk that could easily pass for a long-lost sixties relic, the kind of thing Stuart Maconie occasionally plays to calm people down during his 'Freak Zone' programme. Modest and restrained, yet pretty and tuneful, anyone who has found their way to this website is bound to enjoy this." PennyBlack Music

"Taking inspiration from his Italian surroundings, Hayman here occasionally takes a step back from his usual Anglo-centric musings with the late period Jonathan Richman-esque instrumentation suiting his ruminations on life, love and getting older." Narc [4/5]

"They’re delightful images on this modest but endearing album which shows that, after 15 years, Hayman has his feet on the ground but can still paint the stars." For Folks Sake

"A somewhat solemn strum, the new track finds Hayman in reflective mood, his dimmed vocal set only against an acoustic guitar and slender embellishments. It’s left to the lyrics to tell the whole story, and in that respect Hayman has always achieved, his tender storytelling presenting the kind of song you instantly find yourself lost in despite not having any grasp on either people or place." Gold Flake Paint

"The album is very much what a fan of Darren Hayman would expect, and fits in well with the rest of his work in that is it intelligent, emotional and mixes melancholia with optimism. As it is more introspective and less esoteric than his recent output, it serves as a good introduction to Hayman’s work." GigSoup [4/5]

"An open-hearted exercise in melancholy, Florence is the work of a man who, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, still believes in a thing called love. Amen to that." The Skinny [3/5]

"Possibly closest to Sufjan Stevens on Illinois, Florence is mostly Hayman’s voice accompanied by ukulele, an arrangement that lets his genius lyrics shine." Towleroad

Nuns Run The Apothecary video from Darren Hayman

We sent Darren Hayman back to Florence in September to record a couple of videos for this forthcoming album Florence. Nuns Run The Apothecary is the opening track on the album, and here's Darren's video.

Florence is available to pre-order from Fika Recordings here shop.fikarecordings.com/album/florence

New album from Darren Hayman

Darren Hayman
Darren Hayman

We're very excited to be able to say we've got a new album from Darren Hayman coming out in November, the first with Fika Recordings since 2013's album Bugbears. Since then he's put out the incredible Chants For Socialists (a stunning album taking inspiration and words from William Morris' pamphlet of the same name) and unveiled a long running project based around Thankful Villages.

Back to the LP in question! It is a beautifully delicate and touchingly honest album simply titled Florence after the city in which it was created. This is his very first purely solo album, featuring no other musicians. It was written and recorded between Christmas and New Year at the end of 2014 in the Firenze flat belonging to Elizabeth Morris (Allo Darlin’) and Ola Innset (Making Marks). Continuing his habit of making incisive, observational and beautiful albums, with Florence Hayman has taken a back-to-basics approach, eschewing his recent collaborative, conceptual approaches for a humble and modest solo effort, entirely recorded and performed in the Italian apparetemento of his hosts.

We'll be putting this out on vinyl and download at the start of November, but to whet your appetite, here's the opening track from Florence, Nuns Run The Apothecary, supposedly Darren's response to Allo Darlin's track Darren!.