The official website for the band Hefner and songwriter Darren Hayman
Finally, a second repress of the debut album by Darren Hayman and his first band Hefner in time for the 20th Anniversary.
It’s like the original. It has ten songs on it.
The two CD version has 40 songs on it, including 30 b-sides and outtakes.
Order now, prices include P and P.
Please take care to choose correct worldwide location.
Or buy the download here…
Originally released 5th October 1998.
The final single from Breaking God’s Heart, ‘The Sweetness Lies Within’ was released on CD and 7-inch with the b-sides ‘Normal Molly’, ‘A Hymn For Berlin’, and ‘Hello Kitten’, a track as notorious amongst fans for its catchy chorus as for the fact that (in Darren’s words) ‘it is, of course, about wanking’.
Originally released 15th June 1998.
‘Love Will Destroy Us In The End’, recorded with the full band double-tracked in stereo, was initially released on CD and 7-inch along with the more downbeat b-sides ‘Cowboy Falls’, ‘Blind Girl With Halo’, and ‘Goethe’s Letter To Vic Chesnutt’ (written by Matthew Hein of New Bad Things).
Originally released 5th May 1998.
The first single from Breaking God’s Heart, ‘Pull Yourself Together’ was originally released on CD and 7-inch, featuring the b-sides ‘Christ’, ‘Smoking Girlfriend’, and ‘Wicker Girl’. After becoming Steve Lamacq’s Radio 1 single of the week, the track marked the beginnings of a surge of interest in the band ahead of Breaking God’s Heart’s release.
Originally released March 1998 on Too Pure
Featuring the tracks ‘Flowers’, ‘A Hymn For The Coffee’, ‘Broodmare’ (with Suzanne from Rhatigan on drums), ‘The Girl From The Coast’ (with Scott Acomba on guitar and backing vocals) and ‘More Christian Girls’ (with Stuart Murdoch of Belle & Sebastian on organ), The Hefner Soul 10-inch EP marked the band’s first release on Too Pure. Breaking God’s Heart had already been recorded at the time of The Hefner Soul’s release; ‘Flowers’ and ‘More Christian Girls’ were both tracks left over from the Breaking God’s Heart sessions. The remaining three songs were all home recordings.
Originally released February 1998 on Boogie Wonderland, limited to 500 vinyl copies.
Recorded at Cafe Eric in Greenwich, Lee Remick, a particularly personal song, would become Hefner’s second single, released along with the b-side ‘School Girls’ Knees’. The band were beginning to actively gig as a three-piece and recording several demos, many of which remain unreleased to this day.
Originally released 7th April 1997 on Boogie Wonderland, limited to 500 vinyl copies.
A Better Friend was the first single on which both John and Antony played. Signed by Too Pure on 1st May 1997 (the day of Blair’s election, recalls Darren), this single represents the birth of Hefner as a three-piece.
Originally released 1996.
Hefner’s first release, The Devotion Chamber, was really a solo project, although Antony sings backing vocals. Released on four-track cassette, it features early versions of ‘May God Protect Your Home’, ‘The Sweetness Lies Within’, ‘I Stole A Bride’, and ‘You’ve Been Prayed For’, and is long-deleted.