New Starts is a new band formed by ex-Hefner frontman Darren Hayman plus members of Tigercats and Adults. The project has been touted by Hayman as a return to the group format, which he all but disowned after the dissolution of Hefner. The premise is simple: he writes the songs, the band arranges them. As a result, the songs zig in directions they may not otherwise if this were a strictly a Hayman solo affair. The prominent anti-guitar hero playing of Joely Smith provides a welcome occasional dissonance, jolting you awake after you’ve been lulled into a state of relaxation by Hayman’s dulcet melodies. The rhythm section of Giles Barrett and Will Connor is unobtrusive but sure-footed, allowing the disparate elements to congeal.
New Starts’ default mode is Doug Yule-era Velvet Underground, chugging and lilting along these 12 songs. Theoretically, the album is split into rockers and ballads, but there is little that separates the two in terms of tempo or approach. The songs, by and large, are of the tender kind, amiably yet portentously delivered. Hayman’s characters are hopeless romantics with caveats. On Pumpkins, he urges the object of his desire to “treat every night like the last/treat every kiss like the first,” before comparing their connection to a “crippled bird” on morphine, suggesting their relationship is in a sort of palliative care. A Little Stone tells the story of young, frenzied love, where our protagonist will do anything for his beloved, degrading himself as a “doormat, a satchel” despite misgivings.
The title More Break-Up Songs, in addition to being a direct rebuttal of this band’s name, is perhaps a nod to The Undertones’ More Songs About Chocolate and Girls: if everyone’s got you pegged, you may as well throw your hands up and give the people what they want. But if songs of this quality are the expectation of Darren Hayman at this point in his career, that’s a very good thing.
More Break-Up Songs is out today, digitally, on CD and vinyl LP, through Fika Recordings.