Hayley Hutchinson - Independently Blue

It's a dangerous thing, to name a song (and an album) after a lyric by Nina Simone. As Hayley Hutchinson sings her creamy folk song, the last thing she should want is for the listener to think of the late Nina. Independently Blue lacks everything that made Simone such a force – it lacks fire, it lacks fury, it lacks any real feeling of loss or love. It's a song of confusion, of melancholy, but Hutchinson's friendly coo doesn't express anything but pleasantries. A valley with butterflies and rainbows, rivers and cherry trees. A valley Nina Simone would look into and laugh sadly at. [Sean Michaels]