Gemma Hayes @ King Tut's

The first album released by Gemma Hayes was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, and she received the Best Female Singer nomination by the Hotpress Irish Music Awards, so as someone who had never heard any of her songs, I had high hopes for her sold-out appearance in Glasgow. However, it felt instead like being trapped in a never-ending episode of Dawson's Creek, with the majority of her songs sounding horribly saccharine. There is no doubt she has a beatiful voice and pretty face to go with it, but it was hard to distinguish between individual tracks after the first few. Hayes apparently suffered for two years from writer's block after she finished promoting her debut LP, 2002's 'Night On My Side', and claims to be very happy with her new tracks, but as an audience member who was, to be quite honest a bit bored at this gig, I wasn't so sure. [Gemma Hayes]