Personnel includes: Hayden Desser (vocals, guitar).

Originally released in Canada on Hardwood (2).

Canadian singer-songwriter Hayden was a mere 20 years old when he recorded this tender, brooding, sometimes anguished collection of songs. Twisting the traditional formula with his raw, ravaged vocals and alternately sweet and ferocious delivery, Hayden really brings something new to the genre. Simple, floating acoustic guitar lines and angular harmonies make many songs hauntingly evocative, while crunching electric guitar and drums underscore the edgy aggressiveness of others. Hayden's themes and lyrics are compelling as well, and his lyrics often impart striking images.

In "We Don't Mind," the narrator and his girlfriend crowd into a phone booth and call one another in sick to work, each pretending to be the other's parent. The character in "Skates" works in a department store. He finds himself confronted by a customer who wants to buy a pair of skates so he can cross the frozen river where his wife once drowned. Other songs deal with feelings of alienation and loneliness, and Hayden's strained vocal style is a perfect means of expression. Imbued with an emotional and musical sensitivity that belies the artist's years, EVERYTHING I LONG FOR is a deeply affecting album.

Rolling Stone (5/16/96, p.68) - 3 Stars - Good - "...Hayden emotes his way through a dreamscape of slightly surreal but closely observed human minutiae in songs filled only with his raspy, lugubrious voice, a lonely piano or acoustic guitar and a narcoleptic atmosphere..."

Option (7-8/96, p.107) - "...angst-wrangler Hayden Desser presents sinking-ship sentiments, trainwreck romances and crippling self-doubt with not much to hide behind save an acoustic guitar, harmonica and a baritone voice that can jump from narcoleptic mumble to hyper-intense exhortation..."