Peter Hammill’s Tears In Time – his 37th solo album – arrives five years after his last solo release, 2021’s covers album In Translation, and nine years since 2017’s From The Trees, his last collection of original material. But the first thing to clear up is how to pronounce the new title – is it “tears” as in rips or as in crying?
“It’s whichever you choose,” says Hammill with amusement. “It’s like a flickering Chimera! I haven’t decided which way to say it myself; I’ll probably switch between one or the other. An interesting conceit, I thought!”
The 11-song work is described as having been “recorded at various locations between 1991 and 2026” – which might support the ‘rips in time’ interpretation – but the arrangements and lyrics all come from the past few years.
“I usually put in the dates of recordings, and a couple of pieces had their origins way back when I was still in [recording studio] Terra Incognita in Bath,” he explains. “But I’d say that actually both the tears and the tears are to do with the fact that there’s quite a lot of separations and endings in these songs.”
One of the oldest compositions on the album, dating back to 2022, is Heavy Weather, a version of which originally appeared on a limited-edition CD sold at Hammill’s October 2023 shows in Tokyo. While many of the songs on Tears In Time are reflections on time, memory and coming to terms with the hand that life has dealt, Heavy Weather is about the current state of the world.
“And specifically Ukraine,” says the Van der Graaf Generator man. “But Ukraine stands as a marker for so much of what’s happened since then. Obviously one has to live in hope and expectation and positivity, but these continue to be very worrying times.”
As has been standard procedure for decades now, he played, recorded and produced the album almost entirely on his own, although The Wheels is a co-write with longtime collaborator Saro Cosentino, who was also involved in its recording.
Hammill laughingly scoffs at the very idea of exposing his work to external feedback during its creation – but admits, “It’s probably not the most advisable thing to do. I end up with a finished piece of work I know everything about, but I don’t know how anyone else will take it, or how it fits into whatever I’ve done in the past.”
The first person to hear the finished product is always his wife Hilary, who’s described Tears In Time as “quite dark” – although, as Hammill says, “She usually does!”
The work feels vivid and accessible, certainly compared to the more minimal From The Trees. One of its standout tracks is Red Flags (In The Sunset), a terse rocker with a catchy refrain.
“Every so often, a three-chord trick will fall into your hands,” says Hammill. “It goes back to a Nadir-ish feeling, really, I’d say.”
And When He Ran, closing the record, is a particularly personal song about the death of his dog Bentley, known as Bendy. “Sometimes you have to write a song because that’s what you do, but I wasn’t sure at first whether I’d even make it public,” he says.
“But it’s something that a lot of people will have experienced. It’s about the acknowledgement and acceptance of the inevitability of things – it’s tough, but it’s OK. There’s still a memory of this spirit of life darting through the fields.”
Tears In Time is on sale now.
(LouderSound)
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