Edwina Hayes - Good Things Happen Over Coffee (2011) - CD Rip - FLAC - Individual Tracks + Cover - iP00D

Edwina Hayes - Good Things Happen Over Coffee

Her third and arguably finest-so-far collection of utterly bewitching tunes, the aptly-titled ‘Good Things Happen over Coffee’ sees Yorkshire-based singer-songwriter Edwina pander to precisely what she knows best: lovelorn songs suffused with sublime melodies and heartbreaking vocal performances. Acting as an eagerly anticipated follow-up to ‘Pour Me a Drink’, her latest record features eleven tracks, all of which are as beautifully and thoughtfully crafted as each other.

Compassionately nursing an affecting strain of melancholy, ‘Nobody’s Coming Around’ opens affairs, a lovely tune which features York’s Andy Stones on guitar. Indeed, the entirety of the album is peppered with special guest appearances from the hugely talented likes of Mark Wynn, Holly Taymar, Carl Hetherington, Bobby Wood and Ali O’Keeffe. What’s more, a clutch of Edwina’s songwriting credits have been shared with various musical luminaries, one of whom is musical workhorse Boo Hewerdine.

An intoxicating cover of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Famous Blue Raincoat’ effortlessly lends an air of nostalgia to proceedings, before ‘Tell Me So’ seduces a truly divine interpretation of John Prine’s ‘Speed of The Sound of Loneliness’ into existence. Propelled by a chord progression which is as bold as it is beautiful, the song intimately explores the complex intricacies of love’s trials and tribulations like few other songs. Interestingly, Edwina once met John’s ex-wife about whom the song was written. Both of them were working in Nashville at the time.

‘What Happens Now’ proffers the ultimate reciprocal question. Concerned with the point at which a friendship harnesses the exhilarating potential to become much more than that, Edwina tenderly wonders if it’s best to speak up about one’s feelings and risk making a fool of oneself, or if it’s wiser to stay quiet and risk being unhappy. It’s a tough call; thankfully, the finger-picked tune is exquisite. ‘Long Highway’, co-written with David Martin, then steps up the pace, conjuring visions of a Kerouac-touting freebird lapping up the quiet byways of America.

Making for compulsive listening, ‘Baught And Sold’ triumphs as being the most arresting cut, its haunting marriage of perfectly pitched vocals and delicately strummed chords conspiring to produce one of the most sublime songs that Edwina’s ever recorded. Achingly sad, yet buoyed by hope, it demands another spin as soon as the final note fades.

‘Bend in The Road’, meanwhile, pits a more upbeat tune into the fray, with Edwina optimistically hankering after a silver lining in every cloud. A short yet sensationally sweet ode to looking on the bright side of life, it squares up to ‘Love Unknown’ in fine style.

‘Go Crazy’ (complemented by a wonderful turn on Fender Rhodes from Bobby Wood) and ‘I Can’t Stop Loving You’ (enlivened by a Countrified dobro melody courtesy of Andy Stones) soulfully bring the album to a lilting climax, leaving the entranced listener clamouring - without remorse - for more.

One of the saddest yet most memorable tracks in Eddy’s superlative-laced back catalogue, ‘I Can’t Stop Loving You’ encapsulates the smorgasbord of feelings inspired by a loved one leaving, Holly Taymar’s soft backing vocals adding supplementary stabs of emotion to a tune that fittingly crowns what can only be described as a perfect cache of highly emotive, acoustic-based songs to savour.