Hayden – Are We Good – CD Encore Records Ltd

1 Cd –  (Vinyl in June)

Six years in the making with sixty plus songs in the running, Hayden’s ninth record Are We Good is a crowning achievement in the born storyteller’s loaded canon.

The album posits Hayden, grizzled and peppered, by the pandemic or parenting, in an attic studio stand-off with writer’s block.

Written, produced, and mixed predominantly at Skyscraper National Park, the studio at the top of his Toronto home, a perfect combination of complex family life – Hayden and his wife are parents to a child with developmental disabilities – and the grinding halt of creative inertia forced Hayden further out of his comfort zone than ever before, taking the album off its ledge of unachievable perfection. Hayden reached out to Matt Berninger of The National, a friend and creative catalyst with whom he has traded ideas for years.

The collaboration led to three songs on Are We Good, including the lyrics to answer Hayden’s mesmerizing chorus on the title track. Longtime friend Feist contributes stunning vocals to “On A Beach,” arguably the most infectious, and inarguably the sunniest song in Hayden’s reliably downcast oeuvre.

Aaron Dessner of The National contributes co-production on two tracks, including the breathtaking “We Danced,” an ode to Leonard Cohen worthy of his gigantic everlasting presence within and without Hayden’s music. By breaking his confines, Hayden – who has defined his perennial 30-year career with a staunchly DIY approach – made an enchanting album richly inspired by relationships, from first crushes to family, and musical collaborators in between. So we are good.