October 3, 2002
Hayes, Gemma : Back Of My Hand
Neither icy leftfield songstress nor pearly-white pop maiden
Hard to say why Irish songstress Gemma Hayes exists, exactly, save for the fact that’s someone’s got to play that acoustic slot on Radio 1’s Live Lounge early every afternoon, and frankly, it might as well be her. Neither icy leftfield songstress nor pearly-white pop maiden, it’s desperately hard to suss out what role Hayes is trying to fulfil in the pop firmament. Intriguingly, it says here that ‘Back Of My Hand’ has "echoes of classic Joy Division". Sadly, it appears to mean that this month’s instalment of tedious trad-folkery features an off-the-back-of-a-lorry Hooky bassline, and also, that it kind of makes you want to kill yourself. There, the comparison reaches a sticky end.
Louis Pattison
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