Artist: Release: Us Alone
MusicBrainz: 7409c207-bdbc-48b3-95e5-9cb4ab3bc9b6
Released: 2013-02-05
Label: Arts & Crafts
Country: US

Tracklisting:

01. Motel (05:52)
02. Just Give Me a Name (04:10)
03. Blurry Nights (04:16)
04. Old Dreams (04:38)
05. Almost Everything (05:13)
06. Oh Memory (05:39)
07. Rainy Saturday (03:12)
08. Instructions (11:47)

Paul Hayden Desser has been strumming his guitar, singing his sad songs, and releasing albums on his own Hardwood Records imprint for 20 years now, and his longevity is as respectable as it is baffling. The Canadian singer-songwriter caused a brief buzz back in the mid 1990s with his debut, Everything I Long For, a minor alt-folk release in the Sebadoh or Beck vein. Since then, however, he hasn't had a hit song or a big album, nor has he shown up on a soundtrack or in a major ad campaign. His lyrics are precise and expressive, but he's not really a songwriter's songwriter. His range is limited, but he's not a cult artist either. In fact, his music tends to be understated to a fault: slow and mopey and not always reliable, like ca. 96 dial-up. And yet, here we are, talking about his latest effort, Us Alone.