Jillian
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Post by Jillian on Jan 17, 2014 7:56:07 GMT
I agree Taylor  I wouldn't mind some of Hayley's Mandarin songs being recorded. My favourite is Flowers in the Rainy Night. It's funny that The Moon Represents My Heart is Hayley's biggest song since Pokarekare Ana and Amazing Grace and yet it isn't recorded! I think that needs to be fixed  |
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Post by grant on Jan 17, 2014 18:36:41 GMT
Do you remember a year ago, when we first heard Hayley was making a new album, and was actually in the recording studio. We all got very excited and believed that this was to be the long awaited "real" Hayley album, and were a little taken aback I think by what finally was released. All well and good, Hushabye was and is a good album of its type, but not quite what we had hoped for. At the tie we thought that she had been songwriting for so long that she must have enough for a new album.. That is even more true now. And I think she risks getting stale if she waits too long. If she has the material, and she must have by now, what possible reason could she have for delaying things further? None that I can think of. Especially if she is keen to start a family and wants to do the new album first. Martin D Hi Martin D, Very true. By all accounts, the next album is almost done. Probably time in the recording studio is all that stands between it and completion. I think Hushabye may have also taken Hayley by surprise in that she may have thought 2013 would see the release the next album instead. I imagine Hayley can't wait for everyone to hear it. Once it is done and released, Hayley will have time for other things that she may want to do. Hi Jillian, Martin and everyone I agree! I think Hayley will want to get this next album out; do some concerts and be happy that she's leaving as few as possible of her fans wanting. THEN, and only then will she feel comfortable about taking time out for herself and Arnaud. She's that sort of girl and I don't see her marriage changing that in the short term. Best wishes Grant |
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Post by Libby on Jan 18, 2014 5:10:09 GMT
I personally want this next album - strictly speaking for my self-interest - to have those songs she's sung live for years, and are familiar to us all, i.e. Talk To Me, I Know You By Heart, and more recently Close To You. They just all seem to be "Hayley's" songs - songs she truly enjoys, and bring out the best of her. I'd like that, along with the usual couple of folk and classical tunes, and of course Hayley's own handiwork. -Taylor  Again, yes, yes, and more yesses. Is that how you spell the plural of yes? LOL |
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Post by comet on Jan 21, 2014 9:15:58 GMT
I have often found it interesting that when Hayley mentions how she would like to record a song with specific bands or singers like Mumford and Sons or Damien Dempsy that it more or less goes ignored here, with little discussion of the "why" behind those comments. The desire to sing with artists like these indicates a desire for a change of direction.
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Jillian
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Post by Jillian on Jan 21, 2014 11:23:29 GMT
I have often found it interesting that when Hayley mentions how she would like to record a song with specific bands or singers like Mumford and Sons or Damien Dempsy that it more or less goes ignored here, with little discussion of the "why" behind those comments. The desire to sing with artists like these indicates a desire for a change of direction. I gather from who Hayley follows on Twitter that it is because those artists are in line with Hayley's personal tastes in music. But we have been wondering about Hayley going in a folk direction since at least 2009 when Talk To Me was first performed. I had wondered if the album after River if Dreams would be more folky, but then came Paradiso and Hushabye - which seem to indicate a more traditional classical crossover approach. Who knows... It is probably more likely than not that much of what Hayley personally composes is folky. As we've realised, there may well be a difference between what Hayley would like to do and what she is allowed to do in the end. If Hayley had her way, I honestly think a folky crossover album would have been released in 2009 instead of River of Dreams. |
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Post by comet on Jan 21, 2014 12:27:01 GMT
I may even have gotten a name wrong above,
maybe it was Damien Rice, (He did a nifty duet / collaboration with Tori Amos on the Beekeeper)
Mumford and Sons album Sigh no more is quite intense, No trivial pop lyrics, some pretty deep and meaningful songs there.
I think Talk To Me was a "One of" rather than a direction.
Was River of Dreams not just a greatest hits compilation of existing recordings.
Except for the New Zealand edition which had Majesty.
Hayley's own song On the wings of time had to be hidden on the New Zealand Japanese (Thanks Taylor)edition of Winter Magic as if Decca did not want it aired in public.
The two Japanese songs albums may have been considered a direction, at least they had some direct input from Hayley.
So her next album may well be aimed at her current biggest growing market, China.
It may not be what she "Wants to do" but it may be what she should do, commercially.
Who knows how long the interest in China may last, If Hayley is PoP music in China it might quickly become yesterdays fashion.
I have no idea if the Chinese fans are loyal and dedicated or just dedicated followers of fashion. Time will tell.
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Post by Bamafan on Jan 21, 2014 12:43:34 GMT
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Jillian
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Post by Jillian on Jan 21, 2014 13:53:42 GMT
I may even have gotten a name wrong above, maybe it was Damien Rice, (He did a nifty duet / collaboration with Tori Amos on the Beekeeper) Mumford and Sons album Sigh no more is quite intense, No trivial pop lyrics, some pretty deep and meaningful songs there. I think Talk To Me was a "One of" rather than a direction. Was River of Dreams not just a greatest hits compilation of existing recordings. Except for the New Zealand edition which had Majesty. Hayley's own song On the wings of time had to be hidden on the New Zealand edition of Winter Magic as if Decca did not want it aired in public. The two Japanese songs albums may have been considered a direction, at least they had some direct input from Hayley. So her next album may well be aimed at her current biggest growing market, China. It may not be what she "Wants to do" but it may be what she should do, commercially. Who knows how long the interest in China may last, If Hayley is PoP music in China it might quickly become yesterdays fashion. I have no idea if the Chinese fans are loyal and dedicated or just dedicated followers of fashion. Time will tell. Hi Comet, I was more referring to Hayley's comments that she thought that it was too soon for a greatest hits and that a new album would have instead been her preference. You're right about pop music - it is a very fast moving genre - here today, gone tomorrow as tastes and fashions change. The major pop artists with long careers are usually always chameleons able to reinvent themselves to stand out from the crowd as time goes on. Although, classical crossover is not immune to those pressures, as I'm sure we can think of plenty of examples of artists who have been chewed up and spat out by record companies. Although part of me wonders whether that is a result of TV talent shows saturating the market with more CC artists than the small niche area can actually sustain in the long term. As for what Hayley "wants to do" -- well, the more I think about it, the more I realise a sort of mythology has grown around this. Probably the result a number of years of us sitting around ruminating about it without any satisfactory conclusion being reached. I remember thinking after Winter Magic and Paradiso 'well, that confirms that Hayley is set down a more classical path, rather than the folk path that I once thought she would take'. Now things seem to have taken another turn, with the song selection of Union Chapel making me wonder whether the folky music wasn't just a phase from 4 years ago. The next album will hopefully be quite exciting, as I am convinced it will help answer a lot of our questions about what Hayley has been up to with her private song writing these last 4 years or so. In a sense, it has been a slightly sobering legacy of 2013 that it was the year when the spotlight focused on the commercial pressures that Hayley is under with her deal with Decca and, how like with any job, she ultimately has to do what she's told in order to keep her place in the scheme of things. It has, in my mind at least, created this (perhaps overly romantic) expectation that the next album will be the one where Hayley makes a stand, reclaims her independence and showcases this exciting new sound and style that she's been hiding away all these years. I think I might be building this up far too much in my own mind  and is probably based more on myth than fact. Anyway, if Libby and I's crystal ball gazing in the Katherine Jenkins thread is correct (which quite frankly I have no idea if it is or not) then we might have a while longer to perpetuate some more myths if the next album isn't to be released until early 2015?  Cheers, Jillian P.S Yes, On the Wings of Time was a beauty -- such a pity it received such a relatively small and exclusive release. Likewise with HSJS1 & 2. It is fair to say that some of Hayley's best recent work is hidden away. I also think that Hayley's version of Flowers in the Rainy Night is one of the best new songs she has selected in recent years and it is also a pity that it is hidden away too. For anyone who hasn't watched these, I recommend that you do, as it shows some pretty impressive work from Hayley -- all of it exclusive to the Far East. |
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Post by comet on Jan 21, 2014 16:32:53 GMT
 I must be heading for Egypt, see Nile and the pyramids, Maybe Hayley's next album will be a take on Dark Side Of the Moon which I think featured some of Kate Bush's earliest work for EMI as a backing vocalist. BUT I could be wong about that 2.
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Post by Libby on Jan 22, 2014 6:42:45 GMT
As much as I love the Mandarin/Taiwanese songs, I would actually prefer a compilation CD of these songs, which would of course be released in Asia. I would much rather have them all in one place, instead of scattered here and there as bonus tracks on her main releases. Especially if it's only on an Itunes tracklisting. Horribly unfair.  At least I can probably order a CD from Taiwan, but I'm still not keen on downloading Itunes when I don't even use it. Anyway, I think the Taiwan and Chinese fans deserve an album made especially for them. Just because the songs are beautiful and we think everyone should have the opportunity to hear them, doesn't mean it's realistic to expect Decca to put them on her major international releases. There has to be balance on an album, and only one Mandarin song at a time is less than desirable to me. I'd much rather have them all at once. It would sell much better in Asia, anyway. |
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Post by Bamafan on Jan 22, 2014 12:35:31 GMT
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Post by Sing on Jan 22, 2014 18:27:51 GMT
Hayley Sings Taiwanese Songs! -Taylor I'm kinda surprised she hasn't done an album called that in a way given her popularity over there, I think it's a good idea to have all the Mandarin songs in one place. Who knows? maybe one day it'll happen |
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Jillian
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Post by Jillian on Jan 22, 2014 22:32:23 GMT
Hi Sing, Yes or even a single or a mini album with about 4 or 5 songs on it -- which might be better than trying to fill up a whole album. |
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Post by Bamafan on Jan 22, 2014 23:10:53 GMT
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Post by martindn on Jan 22, 2014 23:38:06 GMT
Me too! I'd buy it! In many ways I prefer that to the stuff she releases over here, good as it is. It is something different, something that most western singers would never think of. Hayley does it brilliantly, and as I've said before, the novelty alone would help it to sell over here, and it would be something really radical for our music market. It might just catch on, and we all know you can't fault the quality of Hayley's performances.
Perhaps that is it. Hayley's releases in the west tend to be very safe. But that measn they risk being boring, and it is only Hayley's exceptional voice that saves the day. I can't imagine I would buy Hushabye if it were by anyone else for example. And I would love her to push the boat out and do something different. Releasing an album of Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese songs in the UK would be radical. I'm sure her record company would never agree to it, it is too far out of their comfort zone. I am also sure that I would love it! I can't be the only one surely.
Martin D
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At least I can probably order a CD from Taiwan, but I'm still not keen on downloading Itunes when I don't even use it.