Her latest album Pure was produced by Giles Martin, son of Sir George Martin, the legendary Beatles producer. "Sir George wrote Beat Of Your Heart on Pure," says Hayley. "English composer Sarah Class arranged all the songs and she wrote Across The Universe of Time. All the music has her touch; it's quite ethereal." The new album includes a haunting rendition of Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights; and Sir George's Beat of Your Heart is quite simply beautiful. There's also some well-known classics.
"I'm not sure what direction my music will go in," Hayley says. "I don't want to cut my choices because I don't really know yet. Hopefully, I'll be able to write my own music and include some of those songs on my albums. I play the piano and the violin so that helps me. I've written some music for school but nothing totally mine. It's impossible to find time (and a piano) while you're on the road."
All pretty heady stuff for a 16-year-old Christchurch schoolgirl. Can you believe all this? I ask her.
"No, not really," says Hayley. "Mostly I don't have enough time to step back and think oh wow, look at what I'm doing. I'm just dealing with whatever comes along and living it rather than thinking about it."
Since she started hitting the headlines at just 14, Hayley's been spending a fair bit of time out of New Zealand (she has a tutor in London so she doesn't fall behind in her studies). Decca Records has made her career its number one priority and introduced her globally in September. She's just spent the last four months in London recording Pure and after a short stint at home, visited Australia and Asia to promote it before returning to the UK.
In London she sang at The Royal Albert Hall. (I've known Hayley since she was 14 and I'm almost speechless.) "I know," she says in response to my awe. "When we first got to London we were sightseeing and we went past the building and looked at it. Little did I know then that I'd soon be on stage there."
Hayley's parents Jill and Gerald act as her managers but it's her mum who nearly always travels with her. "We haven't found anyone else who's suitable yet," says Hayley. "We need someone who's down to earth and understands where we are coming from. It's quite nice keeping it in the family but eventually we'll have to find someone else because of the amount of work." And while it's exciting going to the same parties as Sting and Elizabeth Jagger, it's not without its frustrations. "It's hard because Sophie, Isaac and Dad are left behind so you feel a bit guilty but at the moment no one can replace Mum. I couldn't totally be myself with anyone else."
"We want to fly the others over as much as possible but it's so expensive and I'm not making any money yet. Dad's had to make sacrifices too. He's had to drop out of one side of his jewellery business and now he's working with another valuer who can take over his work when he's away."
