A relatively short-lived Canadian trio formed by Kim Stockwood, Damhnait Doyle and Tara MacLean, Shaye, named in honour of MacLean’s late sister, produced just a couple of albums in the 2000s before folding after Lake of Fire in 2009. Their first release, 2003’s The Bridge, included Happy Baby, which charted well, and today’s selection, my own favourite, which went little noticed. Compact, disciplined, tuneful, well-arranged, and expertly recorded, there’s an emotionally honest, philosophical, almost hymn-like quality to Godspeed that always appealed to me, as does the lovely blended harmony of the womens’ three strong voices.
The group reformed last year to record God, a rather pretty acoustic number written by Jeen O’Brien that was a staple of their live shows back in the day, but which for one reason or another never made it on to an album:
the needlefish 