Best known as the singer-songwriter of the phenomenally successful and much-loved Hefner, Darren Hayman is now six albums into an increasingly idiosyncratic and remarkably productive solo career. Following massive critical acclaim for last year’s Essex Arms album Hayman followed up with his January Songs project, writing a song a day for the entire month. There’s been no let up since either with Hayman just releasing a brand new solo album of subtle, drifting piano ballads called The Ship’s Piano, written following a fractured skull left him wanting to make quieter, more peaceful music. The album has already received rave reviews across the board; from the BBC “uniquely intimate and very satisfying” to Q “It’s galling that Hayman can churn out such high quality so often” and Mojo “Hayman has hit a creative purple patch… a treat”.