Hayden
Everything I Long For
Sonic Unyon / Outpost

Hayden Desser is perhaps the most loved of all Canadian musicians. A mid-20s solo artist from suburban Ontario, Hayden directed videos at the start of his career, studying Radio and Television at Ryerson University in Toronto. Hayden took up 12 string as a hobby, recording songs as he wrote them on his 4 track at his parents house in Thornhill Ontario. His first album Everything I Long For is a wonderful arrangement of honest, suburban angst, mixed with quiet thoughtfulness and somber solitude. Six of the tracks were recorded in studios while the other ten were simple 4 track recordings done in Hayden's house. Hayden's music is simple, low-fi and poignant. His expressive and raw vocals blend awesomely with the 12 string guitar, getting his point across without being abrasive. The album is a combination of soft, tender songs, and passionate angry ones, that tell a tale of life and love that anyone can relate to, and anyone can sympathize with. His songs are described as "rhythmic poetry" by some of his peers. The album has the intimate feel of reading a diary, each song is a perfect expression of a spontaneous thought or emotion. As simple, and as complicated as the world can be.

Everything I Long For was released on Sonic Unyon records out of Hamilton Ontario, what was then a small record label. Hayden's rise as the guru of Canadian indie helped support the label, until it became one of the most powerful in the country. Hayden has fast risen to become a legend in the Canadian music industry, selling over 30 000 copies of Everything I Long For independently. That is a huge number for any Canadian artist, and almost impossible for an independent in Canada. 30 000 records means 1% of Canadians own his album, without push or publicity. From the simple beauty of Bad As They Seem and Lounging to the passionate growling of In September, Skates and When This Is Over, Hayden takes you into his world of ups and downs, honesty and poetry. The ordinary to the extraordinary. Hayden signed a world wide deal with Outpost Records in May, and has been making a big splash internationally ever since, with features in Spin, Rolling Stone, and Seventeen Magazine. Perhaps the greatest challenge facing Hayden, will be to keep in touch with that ordinariness that Canada has grown to love, as he becomes a superstar.

He will be releasing a new album in early 97.

Copyright © 1996 Laura Bowman