Just A Reminder To: Annie Hayden Album From 2005 "The Enemy of Love" Out By Merge Records...

Some of you may recognize Annie's warm, crystalline voice from her tenure in another band. During the mid 90's, Annie was guitarist and vocalist for the sublimely beautiful and criminally overlooked Jersey City band Spent. They recorded two of the finest albums Merge has ever been privileged to release (Songs of Drinking And Rebellion [1995] and A Seat Beneath The Chairs [1997]). Now Annie is back with some songs of her own, and we couldn't be happier.

The Rub was recorded and mixed with John King (also formerly of Spent) serving as engineer on his Roland VS-880EX. Annie and John borrowed a lot of additional equipment from a friendly benefactor, who happened to be friendly with another benefactor who owned some really nice microphones and a pre-amp. Ed Radich (another former member of Spent) pitched in on the drums. Kevin Olson and Zeno Wood, two of Annie's friends from Steinway (where she works full-time as a piano technician), contributed piano and trumpet respectively on "Wood And Glue". And even though it was accidentally omitted from the liner notes, John King contributed vocals on "Lovely To See." All other instruments and vocals were performed by Miss Hayden herself.

When asked for some highlights or background on the making of The Rub, Annie claimed: "I cried once during the guitar takes. John was very gracious about it . . . he always offered tea and turned out to be the paradigm of professionalism, not to mention a mighty fine engineer." Annie also claims to have a case of the sour grapes about a lot of things, which may or may not be evident from some of the lyrics on The Rub. For instance, on "Wood And Glue" she wonders "Will I admit that I'd be grateful for a custom concrete table", which she says was inspired by too many morning commutes drooling over the House and Home section of the Prada ad-riddled New York Times. While Annie's lyrics may sometime lean towards the disenchanted, her melodies soar and twirl like a spring breeze, revealing the dichotomy of hope and promise in even the the direst of situations.

For some of you, The Rub may be an introduction to an amazing new solo artist; for others it's simply the welcome and triumphant return of an old friend. Either way, it is an album of subtle beauty, and the accomplishment of a significant talent. We hope you'll help us spread the word. bio text from her own site

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