Irish singer-songwriter Gemma Hayes today returns with her first release in nine years, her beautiful new single "High & Low." The Mercury Prize nominee's last release was the critically acclaimed album Bones & Longing in 2014. With Gemma's hushed, warm vocals over delicate, atmospheric strings, "High & Low" sounds like a homecoming.
Co-produced with long-time collaborator David Odlum (The Frames), the track is about the quest for connection. "High & Low" is about feeling disconnected - but desperately wanting to connect," explains Gemma. "In the song, this idea is placed in the context of grief and longing for a person who is gone, leaving a ghostly feeling of not fully being alive because of their departure. A nice, happy dance floor anthem this is not!”
This yearning for connection seeps through Gemma's vocals, as well as the deft guitar, piano, and ukulele she contributed to the track. Odlum took on bass duties, with Sam Killeen (James Vincent McMorrow, Lisa Hannigan) on electric guitar and Adam Marcello (Katy Perry, The Script) on drums.
The atmospheric accompanying video, shot in April on Whiting Bay Beach Co Cork and directed by Allyn Quigley, perfectly captures the nuances of this exquisite track.
"It means so much to me to be releasing new music this year," says Gemma. "Whilst I never stopped creating during my 'hiatus', I did indeed step back from sharing what I created simply because of the little humans that needed me to keep them alive for the first few years of their lives.”
Sharing her deconstructed folk-pop with the world again is not just a means of artistic expression, but a way for Gemma to feel grounded. "I really needed music and songs to transport me out of my head and back into my gut," she continues. "It's hard not to feel a strange joy as a human when creating and self-expressing in any artful way. Writing songs for me is like entering a world where magic is real, there's a heightened sense of aliveness."
Despite a break in releasing, Gemma has been busy touring and recently sold-out London's Omeara and Dublin's Whelan's as part of a UK and Ireland tour. She was part of the John Prine Celebration Shows at Dublin's Vicar Street, and Gemma performed the legendary artist's song 'Summer's End' on RTÉ's The Tommy Tiernan Show.
Gemma Hayes' debut album Night On My Side was released in 2002, for which she won Best Female Artist at the Hot Press Awards and a Mercury Prize nomination. Since then, she has released four critically acclaimed studio albums and a limited-edition live album. The Business Post recently praised Gemma as "a songwriter whose work pivots between serious life experiences and an indie folk/rock style influenced as much by Nick Drake as My Bloody Valentine."
Gemma is constantly in demand for Film and TV placements - she has just contributed to the soundtrack of the upcoming film adaptation of Roddy Doyle's 'Greyhound of a Girl.' Her version of Chris Isaak's 'Wicked Game', recorded for the US TV series Pretty Little Liars, now has over 21 million streams on Spotify alone.
Her upcoming TV appearances include a performance on TradFest: The Fingal Sessions hosted by Fiachna &Ocute; Braonáin (Hothouse Flowers) for RTÉ / PBS / European Broadcasting Union. Her collaborative show for Other Voices filmed at Cahir Castle with Lisa Hannigan and Bell XI's Paul Noonan was live streamed worldwide on 18 May and is due to air on RTÉ 2 in June.
Gemma is currently booking Irish and UK dates for the autumn with her band, and as a trio with Lisa Hannigan and Paul Noonan.
