Edwina Hayes - Pour Me a Drink By Steve Rudd

A marked departure from her debut album, Edwina's follow-up to Out On My Own sees her presenting a far more intimate collection of songs. For the most part it's just her and her acoustic guitar. Save for appearances from Carissa Broadwater and guitarist Jake McKeague, guest musicians this time around are few and far between, yet Pour Me A Drink triumphs so defiantly because there's quite simply nothing to distract the listener from the breathtaking range of Edwina's voice.

The gently finger-picked and strummed melodies are appropriately fragile, lending a rare strain of melancholy to her songs that make them devastatingly moving.

Honesty is always the best policy, and Edwina evidently realizes as much. Her lovelorn lyrics cut straight to the bone, with the exquisite Run - co-written with Carissa Broadwater - opening proceedings. The aching and longing that pervades Leave A Light on For You has been captured perfectly, while Edwina's cover of Richard Thompson's Waltzing's For Dreamers proves just how skilled she is at interpreting other people's songs.

Indeed, Edwina made the conscious decision to include a couple of covers on Pour Me A Drink in order to make the release better reflect her live shows: she often slips songs, by all manner of Country and Folk singers into her sets. A corking rendition of the traditional Froggie Went A Courting also makes its presence felt. Season Of Love, Call Me and the title track itself are further examples of emotion-packed songwriting at its finest. Heartbreakingly introspective yet emotionally uplifting, Edwina crafts songs that never fail to touch a nerve.

Having written songs inspired by personal experience from time spent living in the United States and the UK, she allows her voice to breathe life into her lyrics with a maddening passion, knowing when to adjust the pace and mood of her graceful melodies accordingly.

Pretty Lady is something of a surprise, subtly edging into Acoustic-Pop territory through being so catchy, yet it's the final track, her sublime Irish Waltz, that's the icing on the cake. Given that Edwina's previously lived in Nashville, Americana music has naturally had a huge impact on the type of songs she pens. Fortunately, this results in Edwina's music being a winsomely original blend of genres, anchored as always by her distinctive voice that could have the likes of Alison Krauss and Kate Rusby weeping into their mics were they to hear it.

Released on her own label, Twirly Music, Pour Me A Drink is destined to attract new fans aplenty. What's more, her dazzling cover version of Randy Newman's Feels Like Home is set to feature in a future episode of Smallville. So listen out... For more information, visit www.edwinahayes.com or www.myspace.com/edwinahayes

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