Ayden Hutch releases his debut single, “Waitin’ On Your Lovin’,” out now, the first taste of his debut album, ‘Sadness, Anger, & Something Greater,’ out now. The song sets the tone for a record built on vintage soul and R&B warmth, tracked entirely to analog tape.

Originally from Bathurst, NB, Hutch studied jazz guitar in the virtuoso program at Cégep de Drummondville, QC, and spent years active in New Brunswick projects including Ananas and petipé. On stage, his show is built around a high-calibre four-piece ensemble defined by vintage groove, soulful vocals and sophisticated arrangements that move between jazz, R&B and blues, fronted by Hutch’s own guitar work and backed by a tight, groovy rhythm section.

‘Sadness, Anger, & Something Greater’ has been nearly two years in the making, and it maps directly onto a turbulent 2024 in Hutch’s own life. A difficult breakup left him devastated, that heartbreak curdled into anger, and eventually he found someone who makes him genuinely happy. He wrote constantly through all of it, and the songs sorted themselves naturally into three threads that became the album’s backbone: sad songs, angry songs and, finally, happier love songs.

“Waitin’ On Your Lovin'” belongs to that last category, though its longing is far from settled. “I wrote ‘Waitin’ On Your Lovin’’ the day after I met someone who is now very special to me,” Hutch says. “I wrote it within maybe an hour, as the words just made sense and really flowed.” The song speaks to real feelings for someone who, at the time, felt out of reach, with desire and longing for something he could not, or should not, have sitting at its centre.

Hutch recorded the single and the album at Studio 345 in Sainte-Hélène-de-Bagot, QC, with his best friend Sam Mallais, who produced, engineered and mixed the project. Chasing the sound of his favourite era, 70s soul and R&B, the pair committed the whole record to analog tape. “I love the process as it forces you to commit to certain things and really moves most of the load to before ever having to press record,” Hutch explains. “We really work the songs and get them to where they need to be beforehand, as there is no copy, paste or undo.”

The sessions leaned heavily on friendship as much as musicianship. Sam Newman, a bass player by trade and one of Hutch’s closest friends for a decade, played drums across the entire record and helped mix alongside Mallais, while James Forest, a friend from St-Nazaire, QC, handled bass. “It meant a lot to me to have people who have been close to my musical development be a part of the record,” Hutch says. “We truly had an amazing time. The whole experience felt more akin to jamming with friends than producing an album.”

Hutch takes the songs on the road this fall with his touring band, bassist Sam Newman, drummer Ismaël Chagnon and guitarist Loïk Martin.