Hayden featuring Feist - "On a Beach"

Photo by Christie Greyerbiehl

Hayden is one of those artists I forget about and then am delighted to rediscover every so often. The Toronto based artist just announced his first album in eight years and released a new single. "On a Beach" might be the most melancholy sounding song about a beach in existence, but this is Hayden, after all, so it makes sense. Starting off with 1995's Everything I Long For, "On a Beach" is one of the rare songs that sounds exactly like what you want an artist to sound like nearly thirty years into a career. The core of what you loved about Hayden in the 90's is still there, but in a much more mature and adult version. Plus, any time you add Feist into a song, you're making the right move.

Hayden says of his new single and collaboration with Feist:

“One afternoon February 2021 I was asleep at my piano when I received a text from my friend Leslie (Feist), inviting me to be a part of a songwriting workshop with several other musicians of note. I was terrified, but joined in as an attempt to jolt myself out of submission. The idea was to write a song a day for seven consecutive days, sharing them later each evening with the other writers. A great combination of pure feet to the fire expression and accountability.

"'On A Beach’ was my 'day four' submission. I continued tinkering with the song and recording in the following weeks, adding a bridge, tracking several synth lines to try to create what I thought hypnosis may sound like. A few weeks later, Leslie was in town and I invited her to sing on a newer verse I’d written to make the song more of a conversation. Who better than the best, and the one who basically made the song happen in the first place.”

You can watch the video (which also features Steve Buscemi and Matt Berninger of The National) below. Are We Good is due out April 5 on Arts & Crafts. The album can be pre-ordered here. For more on Hayden, check out the artist's website.