While our focus at SXSW when it comes to catching shows in Austin tends to lean toward emerging talent, inevitably each March an artist that we haven’t given focused attention years crosses our path. Last year’s rediscovery was Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, whose set we happened upon late on the final night — a show packed with 30-somethings nostalgic for the mid-’00s when this band blew up and eager to hear them break fresh ground. In 2013, we caught up again with Hayden, albeit ahead of the festival and for entirely different reasons.
Hayden Desser will take to Austin to promote his new record, Us Alone. Bringing new material onstage this round was an important move for the singer-songwriter, given past mistakes in promotion (that perhaps also led to our neglecting his previous LP). “I’ve always taken the music extremely seriously,” he said in an interview for the new set, “but I’ve definitely made a few promotional missteps, One example would be not doing a single show or interview for my last record. Yes, I put out a record in 2009.”
We could go on and on about the reasons one should get caught up with his understated yet singularly brilliant work, but — in a true testament to the songwriting — the new cuts themselves speak volumes. Hear Us Alone below (via Billboard) and catch one of a number of SXSW sets scheduled here.
