has London affected Hayley's voice?

[stevemacdonald]

I think it's a safe bet the air quality in London is nowhere nearly as pure as it is in New Zealand. Surely this difference has to have had some effect on Hayley over the past three or four years, perhaps making her voice a tiny bit grittier than it might otherwise have been. I know. I moved from the great plains to the urban jungle of New York for two years, and then back. New York was harsh and I'm glad I no longer live there. I find I can breathe much more easily and my voice has improved a lot.

So my question is: How much purity did Hayley's voice lose from the relocation? Would she sound better over time if she moved back to Chch?

[socalboy]

stevemacdonald said:

I think it's a safe bet the air quality in London is nowhere nearly as pure as it is in New Zealand. Surely this difference has to have had some effect on Hayley over the past three or four years, perhaps making her voice a tiny bit grittier than it might otherwise have been. I know. I moved from the great plains to the urban jungle of New York for two years, and then back. New York was harsh and I'm glad I no longer live there. I find I can breathe much more easily and my voice has improved a lot.

So my question is: How much purity did Hayley's voice lose from the relocation? Would she sound better over time if she moved back to Chch?

This is assuming that a little bit of grittiness is a bad thing. I don't know. London's not all tea and crumpets, it can be a tough city. Art mirrors life. But I'll reconsider when she starts sounding like Bob Dylan.

[Libby]

Well, when did she move to London?

I know she must have recorded all 3 Decca albums in London. To me, her voice sounds a lot better on these albums than on her earlier albums. On those, in certain vowel sounds, and slightly lower notes, her voice sounded like she was going to yawn. For that reason, I was a little disappointed for "Walking in the Air" and "Pie Jesu".

She sounds wonderful on Pure, Odyssey, and Treasure, but most consistently beautiful on Odyssey songs.

However, Hayley's voice sounded the most beautiful singing "Benedictus".

[milewalker]

libby said:

Well, when did she move to London?

I know she must have recorded all 3 Decca albums in London. To me, her voice sounds a lot better on these albums than on her earlier albums. On those, in certain vowel sounds, and slightly lower notes, her voice sounded like she was going to yawn. For that reason, I was a little disappointed for "Walking in the Air" and "Pie Jesu".

She sounds wonderful on Pure, Odyssey, and Treasure, but most consistently beautiful on Odyssey songs.

However, Hayley's voice sounded the most beautiful singing "Benedictus".

Hi Libby,

Two notes about the London recordings. First she was older with a somewhat more mature voice. Second, the recording standards were much better on the later recordings - mostly a matter of having the benefit of a much larger budget.

She has sort of moved to London by degrees - really from the time of the launch of Pure onward there was a logistics problem with her in New Zealand when the base of her operations, and eventually her largest fanbase as well was in the UK. Until after she was 18, one parent or another was staying with her - she not only lives in London, but has been more or less on her own there now for more than two years.

Any effect that the dirtier London air would have on her voice would almost certainly be very slow. Right now the predominant change in her voice is very likely nothing more than being nearly 21 as opposed to 13.

Jon

[Libby]

Of course I know the difference in her voice has to do with maturity, and not pollution. I was asking about when she moved to London to try to figure out which album Steve thinks she sounds "gritty" in.

Steve made it sound like her voice doesn't sound as good since she's lived in London. I can't understand that, because I think she sounds better. But like I say, I do realize it's because of maturity, and nothing to do with London itself.
She says in her book that she's always trying to improve her voice, so maybe that's why she sounds a little different on Treasure. However, I don't think it needed any improvement. In Abide With Me, it sounded like she was trying too hard to enunciate perfectly, and she didn't sound quite as natural, or even "pure", as in other songs. Part of it may have been that she started in a "low" key, so she never hit any wonderful, high notes.

But then, listen to her on "There's A Sparkle in Your Eyes". She sounds perfect!

[martindn]

In any case the air quality in UK cities is not that bad these days, compared say to the 1950s when we had killer smogs. In fact it is claimed that the air in the UK in general is now cleaner than it has been for 400 years, thanks to anti-pollution legislation leading to reduced industrial, domestic and transport emissions.

Martin

[roger]

Hi Libby,

Hayley has been based in London since about September 2003 but at no time has she actually been there for more than two or three months at a time.

Perhaps we should recognise that, although the conditions in London are far from ideal, they are nowhere near as bad as they were in the 1960s. I think, in present day conditions, it would take many years to have any noticeable effect on someone's voice even if they were living there continuously. Hayley is probably there for no more than a third of the time.

Edit: Martin beat me to it but has said more or less the same as me. It must be something in the air!

Roger

[Joe]

London has affected Hayley's voice...it's really improved over the past few years.

The Clean Air Acts of the 1950's and further ongoing legislation have significantly reduced smog and pollution around major cities in the UK.

[Mr Yang]

This is reasonable. And that's why Hayley goes back to NZ every year to regain her purity.