Once you get past how instantly enjoyable Hayley Reardon’s new EP is, your hit by the stunning news that this singer/guitarist is only 17 years-old. Her voice and lyrics (with the exception of the cover of Taj Mahal’s “Fishin’ Blues,” all the songs here are penned by Reardon) are far stronger than anything you’d expect from a teenager and bring to mind everyone from Mary Chapin Carpenter to fellow Bostonian Chris Trapper. That Taj Mahal cover, by the way, is brilliant, bringing so much more to the song than was there to begin with. Her personal observations, even as simply put as a line like “It’s the way you drive and all the Bob Dylan you pretend to like” (from “Numb and Blue”), propped up only by acoustic instruments and a confident voice, are direct and powerful.
This seven-song EP is stellar follow up to 2012’s debut, Where the Artists Go, and proof that Reardon is a destined for bigger and better things.
Hayley Reardon – Wayfindings EP/7 tracks/Kingswood Records/2014