Lachie Hayes’ first full album release is out today, and it’s called, spoiler alert, Subsatellite. A subsatellite is an undiscovered celestial object, it’s a fringe on the fringe, it’s a moonmoon….Or maybe not.
Maybe it’s a southern cowboy found simultaneously in Clint Eastwood movies and deep amongst the eastern hills of Southland (NZ).
A southern cowboy from the land of the rolling R, with a deep affinity for the Delta and Hill Country blues of Mississippi, or the windswept wastelands of Texas and Arizona.
A southern cowboy steeped in the wily ways of both Dylans, and respectful of the cultural roots from which he emerged. Tumbleweed meets tussock. Possum meets coyote. Rye meets malt. Sunshine meets moonshine.
There’s a rich blend in the music of Lachie Hayes. Reverb vocals project space and depth, outside looking in, somewhere across the other side of the bar, and who better to manage production than the haunted master himself, Delaney Davidson.
It’s Blues as you choose, personified through the lens of characters both real and imagined, but mainly from the dark side of the moonmoon, where subsatellites linger.
Yet it’s country in essence, the broadest of churches, with harp and fiddle and twanging guitar. It’s a feast, that’s what it is, a smorgasbord of Outlaw Country Rhythm and Blues, with a big dollop of alt. Lyttleton meets Son Volt.
Subsatellite roars from the outset, with a lurch like an old V8, The Likes of You being the ultimate put down of a nasty piece of work. A wild west flavour in contrast to a jaunty sing -a-long campfire feel.
The second song is a tribute to The Unknown Blues, a glorious name for Southland’s earliest exponents of loud long-haired Rock, schooled by the mid 60’s visits from the Stones and the Pretty Things, in the art of misbehaving.
Clip-clop, clip-clop as the unknown cowboys’ ride in from the hill country, dismount in anticipated anger, doing the Foot Stompin’ Boogie, and looking for a fist fight.
Wild west America meets wild west Invercargill, and there’s even a moment when the lights go out in the Waverly Hall. And that’s probably when the vicar told the Unknown Blues to tone it down and was met with a torrent of blue epithets of unknown provenance (at least to the vicar).
The next character is introduced, a hard man who does time, Rockabilly prison blues and Convict Guns.
Closer to home, there’s bandits in them thar hills and more than just whisky. There’s Stephen on fiddle and a whistler rounding everyone up, somewhere between Gore Southland and Gore Oklahoma. Get in behind!!
And then the main character, the Subsatellite himself arrives, Lachie as a creator on the edge of space, a metaphor for those who live off the beaten track. But don’t write them off, they’re forces of nature, of emotion, of rugged individualism and precocious talent. Stretch those notes to make the point.
But survivors all, in the realm of Lonesome Hearted Lovers, a sweet little ballad with my voice it’ll age like tainted wine…. lonesome hearted lovers charismatic, breaking hearts and wandering off alone. Pure Country picking and moaning.
This River was the first single, so y’all know this one, and this time the river is the villain. It might be the Mataura. It might be an anthem. Or it might be the S.O.B who took away our freedom during Covid. A world gone wrong, raunchy guitar riff killing the song.
A gentle campfire harmonica intro segues into a Hammond swirl and a sing song picky riff which kindles a mutual Fire in my Heart with Kayla Mahon guesting on harmony. Gorgeous little song.
Discordant scales introduce another bluesy riff and a lament about falling for the wrong woman. Oscar Ladell features on this Easy to Fall for You.
Watch out, the boys are back in town, a small town. It might be Tokanui, it might be Toledo, but the boys are all dressed up, and no self-respecting mother’s going to let you through that door while you’re wearing that style. It’s the King of the Night Out on the Tiles never growing old or up. Funky.
Ok, closing this one out with a relentless rolling rocking beat, Stones on steroids, a touch of Punk sits behind the Woman That Tamed the Devil. Don’t know who she is but she does…
Subsatellite was recorded and released by Invercargill’s newest studio, Massav, featuring local hero Lachie Hayes (guitars, vocals and harmonica) as the label’s first signing, and magnificently produced by the king of haunted blues, Delaney Davidson, also on guitar.
Legend John Dodd and Matt Wood provide the rhythm, and Stephen Hayes chimes in on fiddle.
As Lachie will admit, this album has been a long time coming, but oh, so worth the wait and the weight.
Go buy this record, you’re allowed a little stream as a taster, but the river flows through disc and groove. Go on, buy something…. There’s vinyl available on Shopify, at JB Hi Fi or Lachie’s website and Facebook page. Turn a subsatellite into a shooting star.
Lachie Hayes is shining bright.
Roger Bowie
