Hayden – The Place Where We Lived
When I first listened to Hayden’s newest album, The Place Where We Lived, I tried really hard to figure out whether I liked it more or less than his previous 7 records. I agonized over it a fair bit… it definitely didn’t mean as much to me personally as Everything I Long For [1995], which was the perfect record for a young teen rebelling against his parental-units; it wasn’t nearly as cool and serene as Skyscraper National Park [2001]; it didn’t capture his live show and showcase his deadpan humour like Live at Convocation Hall [2002], nor did it have the hilarious and horrifying story telling that appeared on Elk Lake Serenade [2004]…
But The Place Where We Lived (presumably) paints a pretty accurate picture of where Hayden Dresser is in life after approximately 15 years as a singer/songwriter/record executive/Canadian Indie-Music Icon. He’s not so angry – no bear-mauling, no tying people to cars and sending them into a lake, or searching for bodies frozen in river – he’s got some friends (Howie Beck, the album’s producer), and he seems more at ease with the ups and downs in life.
Sure, its a break-up album, which might explain the smaller gap between releases, and, as such, the content of the album centres around said break-up, but Hayden approaches the subject in a much more ‘adult’ sort of way. He isn’t whining about it (like Justin Vernon aka Bon Iver), or giving the middle finger to his ex (like Lily Allen), but kind of debriefing a good friend that he hasn’t seen in a while about the whole thing. He doesn’t get into the gory details, or want your sympathy, but he’s not going to sugar-coat the thing and make you think that it was “no big deal”.
In the end, I’m not sure it matters where The Place Where We Lived ranks in Hayden’s catalogue, since, each album, while retaining parts of previous efforts, is a unique beast. Certainly its a worthy addition to his impressive discography, and worth the $8.88 via the Zunior website…
[mp3] Hayden – Let’s Break Up
Tags: album
