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When we interviewed Darren, he claimed it wasn’t that he was prolific; he just couldn’t understand why everyone else took so long to write songs. This set of songs - originally released as a series of four 500-only vinyl pressings – shows how easy it is for him; simply go to some seaside resort or caravan park for inspiration, pack your ukulele, keyboard and recording device, and return home with a four-track single, if not a suntan.
They’re like a series of snapshots taken on blustery days in unfashionable resorts that radiate warmth from the characters within. Though the songs are constructed quite minimally and recorded in the lowest of fi, they’re full of the minor key melodies that we like so much in Darren’s work. We’ve reviewed most of the original EPs already but they’re worth re-hearing as a collection. ‘Eastbourne Lights’ reflects tenderly on ageing and ‘Out of Season’ is a gentle serenade for the holiday camp in autumn with a gorgeous drifting melodica part. Meanwhile, ‘1976’ and ‘8 Bit World’ reflect Darren’s fondness for looking backwards. He even throws in a few thematically similar covers; the Beach Boys-ish ‘Holiday Road’ is from the soundtrack of National Lampoon’s Vacation while ‘Margate’, by Chas and Dave, has a melancholy sound quite at odds with the Jolly-Boys-Outing feel of the original.
If the records are his holiday snapshots, he’s also brought back his videos, collected on the bonus DVD: lots of tea drinking, bingo, a Supergrass ripoff and rather too much of the Hayman flesh, plus an interview. It all confirms the unstarry charm of our Mr Hayman.
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