Source – 2002 – 46 minutes
If you'd heard a record this polished in 1990 you'd have wondered what was next for our little nation: European-style bars and bands releasing their own albums? But Hayes is the product of more confident times and 'Night On My Side' sounds like the work of someone who's learned from what's gone before and what's around now – and then marked out her own territory.
Too rocky to be lumped in with singer-songwriters and too gentle to be associated with the foot-on-the-amps sisters, Hayes shifts between tempos but never loses sound of the story she's telling. While some will cherish the more guitar-driven tracks and others the strummed-out introspection, it's hard not to hear and enjoy the album as a whole.
If there's a quibble, it's that the pacing is too soothing towards the close – but maybe that's just the sign of someone who knows they can take their foot off the pedals and keep you with her. One thing's for sure: after this Hayes can call on a whole lot more than the dark hours to back her up.
Harry Guerin
Tracklisting: Day One - Hanging Around - Back of my Hand - Over & Over - Let a Good Thing Go - Ran for Miles - What a Day - Tear in my Side - I Wanna Stay - Lucky One (Bird of Casadega) - My God - Night on my Side
