According to Greek mythology, the mortal Adonis was born of a God-driven incestuous relationship between King Cinyras of Cyprus and his daughter, Myrrha. The relationship was governed by Aphrodite, who placed unnatural urges within Myrrha after becoming enraged by claims the girl was more beautiful than herself. King Cinyras was so angry at having been tricked into intimacy with his own daughter, he chased Myrrha with intentions to execute her, and the gods ‘saved’ her with the debatable honour of being transformed into a Myrrh tree.
Of course, this being polytheistic Ancient Greece, the story does not end there. Adnois is born from his arboreal mother, rescued by Aphrodite and given to Persephone to be raised. Returning once he is grown, Aphrodite finds Adonis to be strikingly attractive, and a tug-of-war ensues that results in Adonis and Aphrodite crossing the mortal line and becoming lovers. Gods being the vengeful beings they are, they send a wild boar to kill Adonis during a hunting trip, and his story ends with him bleeding out in the arms of his godly lover.
In mourning, Aphrodite carried Adonis through the Afqa forest, her tears mingling with his blood and falling to the ground, where it sprouted as red anemones.
Today we are delighted to share Anemone Red by Hour, the follow up to their debut Tiny Houses, and the band’s first release on Lily Tapes and Discs. As the title suggests, the record draws upon the imagery and symbolism of the Adonis myth, finding the small details within huge narratives that come to represent the emotion of the circumstances. As the bio puts it:
Anemone Red is a meditation on the colours and moods that rise between shared lives, and in the wake of doubt and loss […] Each track brushes slowly at the outline of an unknowable story, flipping through curled, faded memories, stirring up a deep longing for someone you never truly met, if at all.
Writing back in March, we described Hour as “something of a Philadelphia super-group,” with Jason Calhoun (synth, violin), Michael Cormier (guitar), Lauren Costello (cello), Matt Fox (viola), Pete Gill (drums), Evangeline Krajewski (synth), Abi Reimold (guitar) and Dan Wriggins (accordion) all lending their talents. The result, we described, was a “relaxed instrumental sound,” which “incorporat[es] elements of ambient, drone, post-rock and folk alongside poignant field recordings to create something unhurried yet stirring.”
Recorded and mixed by Francis Lyons, Anemone Red maintains the unhurried tag from the previous record, meaning that although sharing thematic concerns, the sound is a world away from the blood and bombast of Ancient Greece. Rather, Hour present the same heartbreak and longing as it occurs today, repressed and layered behind our day-to-day responsibilities, manifest not in blood-dripped flowers but the slow, sad progression of the world around us.
Indeed, as the bio suggests, even the sense of loss itself might not have a physical source. Our spaces are vast and lonely, teeming with life but not connection, and all actions and efforts ruled by the utilitarian demand for productivity and progression. Hour are not mourning their Adonis, but the concept that such a relationship could ever emerge under our conditions. Hence the mood is wistful, nostalgic even, though not for anything that has been and gone. Rather, Anemone Red is a yearning for what we have never had, and likely never will. Here there are no second chances or magical transformations, no scheming Gods to curse or save us, only the quiet nobility of living one’s life with this in full view, knowing that we shall grace no ancient pages.
Album artwork by Abi Reimold