Hayboy releases the single smartness and dollars from a coming album

Hayboy has released smartness and dollars, and the name behind the project is Daniel Brown, a songwriter from West Virginia. That is the detail most write-ups of this release leave out, and it matters because the song is an unusually direct piece of personal writing.

Brown says as much himself. "Smartness and dollars is about the realisation that ambition can be a distraction from the things that give life meaning," he says, adding that it is a reminder that the people we love and the relationships we build are worth more than achievements.

The recording backs that up with how it was made rather than how it sounds. Clash says the track was captured in one take, which for a song built on distortion and punchy vocals is a decision to keep the performance rather than the production.

The sound itself is a louder turn than what he has done before. Clash describes a grittier, crowd-ready performance with adrenaline under the melodies, and places him between art rock, Americana and the alternative, three things that only sit together comfortably when a guitar is doing the joining.

The reference points named for him are consistent with that. Queens of the Stone Age, All Them Witches and The Black Angels are the acts Clash hears in his playing, which puts him in a heavy psychedelic lineage rather than a singer-songwriter one, whatever the lyric is about.

Clash frames the release as a turning point for Brown, a period of self-reflection working its way into what he writes. There is no album title and no release date attached, so the single is the only evidence of where that leads.

The Black Angels are on the road themselves this coming year, supporting the rock bill we covered in Interpol and Queens Of The Stone Age's Mexico dates. Hayboy's album will be listed on the release calendar once it has a date.