The benefits of this modus operandi are manifold. With an ever-changing array of musicians, Hour is uniquely resistant to retreading old ground, each recording session or performance shaped by the configuration present in that specific moment. But more importantly, the sheer breadth of talent available to Cormier-O’Leary allows him to explore themes which might too great to confront on his own. Consider Hour’s new full-length, Ghost Bridge, set for release this autumn via Dear Life Records. An album which, as per its title, repurposes an unrealised film concept in which a bridge literally starts to dematerialise into thin air. With a sound decidedly cinematic, Hour use this image as a starting point for a far wider meditation on loss and disappearance. What it means to be on one side of something without hope of crossing over. The helplessness of being stranded in any given location. Not to mention the almost dreamlike experience of witnessing a tangible aspect of your world suddenly vanish in an instant. How do we live with the knowledge this will happen to people around us, be they lovers or strangers? What would it feel like to take their place?

A thirteen-strong cast of musicians assembled to bring Ghost Bridge to life, and each song was arranged with specific players in mind. To give the full roll call, Cormier-O’Leary is joined by Jason Calhoun, Em Downing, Matt Fox, Peter Gill (2nd Grade, Friendship), Pat Keen, Lucas Knapp, Evan McGonagill, Peter McLaughlin (Little Wings), Frank Meadows (Fust, Dear Life co-owner), Keith J. Nelson, Abi Reimold, Adelyn Strei (Skullcrusher) and Heeyoon Won (Boosegumps). You only have to listen to the subtly mesmeric title track to appreciate the newfound depth of this iteration of Hour. A song, clocking in at near ten minutes which must rank among Cormier-O’Leary’s most ambitious and thematically loaded to date. Nothing is hurried, yet there is nevertheless an urgency to the poignant, curious sound. The level of detail is striking but there is no ounce of ostentation. Lesser acts might be overwhelmed if tasked with exploring concepts of loss and mortality, prone to slipping into maudlin excess, but with a unique blend of compassion and abstraction, it seems Hour are up to the task.

The song is paired with an equally abstract and evocative short film made by Cormier-O’Leary and his collaborators themselves. “I was transfixed by this triangle hallway in one of the buildings at the Circus Campus in Germantown, so I gathered my friends Buzz Lombardi, Heeyoon Won, Hayden Hall, Lucas Knapp and Silas Reidy to make the video there,” he explains. “We spent most of our time lighting the hallway so Silas’ long, slow walk towards the camera would be disorienting with him emerging from and descending back into shadow.” Watch in full below:

Ghost Bridge will be released on the 9th October via Dear Life Records and you can pre-0rder it from the Hour Bandcamp page.

Band photo by William H. Travis, album cover photography by Matthew Chasney, layout by Francis Lyons

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Wish you Were Here Tour is marked by its upbeat nature, retaining a sense of buoyancy even when describing more morose or troublesome situations. But that’s not to say the record is without a sad countershade, and indeed the 2nd Grade style could be described as an interplay between carefree progress and wistful retrospect. Opener ‘Favourite Song’ certainly errs on the second side of the equation, melancholic in comfortable way, where sadness is another version of fondness.

Tracks such as ‘No More Parties’ and ‘There’s Something I Should Tell You’ add an injection of loose-limbed energy, conjuring summer days of no plans and high cloud, while ‘Bad Idea’ and ‘Smart Enough’ are more contemplative, the warmth here derived from Gill’s humanistic nature rather than any environmental source. This sense of empathy and connection is intrinsic to all of the songs, from the frenetic ‘Knock Knock’ and lo-fi garage rock of ‘As Long As We Can Talk About It’ to the gentle longing of the title track, the binding skeleton around which Gill is free to experiment and mix up the 2nd Grade sound.

Which goes some way to explaining the themes of the record, too. With the title in mind, a sense of longing is omnipresent across the album, be it for another person or place or time entirely. However, rather than being the hollow escapism of much nostalgia, 2nd Grade use yearning as a mode of living and learning, as though the passing of things both good and bad lend life a comforting sense of flow. Gill evokes the past not in the hope of returning to it or recreating its dimensions, but rather as a way to remain mindful of the present. To not get bogged down in the moment, but rather lie back and float upon the current.

We’re delighted to be able to stream the record a few days before release, so grab your headphones, sit back and relax:

Cover design by Jon Samuels, photo by Abi Reimold

The post Album Premiere: 2nd Grade – Wish You Were Here Tour appeared first on Various Small Flames.