Jakob Felty interviewed acclaimed musician Sean Hayes before his concert at Uncle Slayton’s. Hayes was on tour for his seventh and newest studio album, “Before We Turn to Dust.”

Overview: Sean Hayes’ newest album, Before We Turn To Dust, provides a bit of a stylistic gap from his prior album Run Wolves Run. But this isn’t necessarily bad; just different. As an avid fan who has all of his works I expected to like the album–which i did–but, I was surprised at some things. The album features prominent blues/soul influence and an obvious demonstration at the wide variety of instruments at his disposal while producing the album. In an interview I did with him he expressed that having the piano as a primary instrument was a lot of the difference. I would have liked to have seen more soft, romantic acoustic pieces like “Garden” or “Powerful Stuff” from his previous album but I was pleasantly surprised with bluesy, intimate takes on life and recounts of his personal life like “Lucky Man” or “Drop Down.” The 8th studio album by Hayes is a good change of pace that he is happy with.

The Good: What was my favorite song on the album?
TRACK 5: Drop Down
The song is just beautiful. The music is beautiful. The vocals are beautiful. The lyrics are beautiful. And the new bluesy folk style could not have been implemented into the album any better. Hayes falsetto is featured in a way i had never heard before and it was a large part of the track.

The Different: What was a change from the band’s usual style?
TRACK 3: Bam Bam
Featuring a different side of Sean Hayes is the track “Bam Bam.” It reveals a sexual topic not yet explored very far by Hayes. To show a more “bad” side too him with the accompaniment of the Blues style is a cool new feel that is promising for the future.

The Future: What do i hope to see more of in the future?
TRACK 10: Innocent Spring
Sean Hayes voice harmonizes AMAZINGLY with a higher pitched, female presence. To get more features on songs would be fantastic. I hope to see this in future works.

The Bottom Line: Sean Hayes is bold, experienced, and keeps producing good music. I expect to see a lot more work from him when it’s all said and done.