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NEW ; HATS OFF GENTLEMEN IT'S ADEQUATE - The Light of Ancient Mistakes digipak cd Barcode 198003619203
Studio Album, released in 2023
Cover: Malcolm Galloway Label: Glass Castle Recordings
Format: CD, September 9, 2023
In "The Light of Ancient Mistakes" -UK trio HATS OFF GENTLEMEN IT'S ADEQUATE's seventh album release- we are drawn into a foreboding, disturbing, unsettling world in which we begin to realize we have only ourselves to blame.
All set to impeccably engineered, mostly-restrained, Floyd-inspired, brooding music with lyrics telling tales of quiet horror and devastation. Malcolm Galloway- lyricist, composer, multi-instrumentalist- draws from a wide-ranging booklist which inspires him to reflect on our current world conditions.
And he doesn't much care for what he sees- so much we could do to improve ourselves and our world, our relationships, our politics, our sense of connectedness- and we don't do those things.
Consider this album HATS OFF GENTLEMEN IT'S ADEQUATE's response- not an 'answer' because there may be none or at least none most of us wish to acknowledge (cowardice? let someone else take action? hopelessness?)- to the WHY of it all.
In poetic and musical form, HATS OFF GENTLEMEN IT'S ADEQUATE addresses demagogues we by our inert responses empower, burning of the world, funding the eight hundred years of military madness which may well light the skies with our own demise- and we are confronted time and again whether in music or in lyrical reveries with our own complicity.
Yet it's a powerful- and perhaps overlong- experience, putting on the headphones and hearing "The Light of Ancient. Mistakes". Pondering whether WE can (and will) do better than we have been.
Musically I do frequently hear the mournful and brooding sounds and the Strat-flavored textures of Pink Floyd, but also, notably in my favorite track, "Walking to Aldebaran", some edgy, heavier progressive metal-style passages with complex riffs. Lots of keyboards, with layers of synths and strings and held, foreboding bass lines, grooving and active bass lines, and some tasty drumming.
The vocals are often lamenting and mournful, considering the subject matter mentioned, with occasional use of octaves and harmony to add heft and texture.
Special mention also must be made for "imtiredandeverythinghurts", a deeply self-revelatory song that has personally challenged me to reconsider using the ubiquitous (and quite awkward, it turns out) question, "How are you?" or "How's it going?"
When one is suffering, what is the proper response? Is the question sincere...or is it similar to the meaningless, "What's up?" with which person greets person.
I'm often tempted, when faced with an immensity of questions and literary references and Big Ideas, to begin to unpack these. In "The Light of Ancient Mistakes" we find all these and more, as well as impeccably engineered and produced musical greatness.
But forget it. Malcolm has provided a lot of information- with some wonderful illustrations- about the tracks on this album, and I encourage you to take time to read, and to think about these things.
Conclusions
Quite a heavy and passionate offering from HATS OFF GENTLEMEN IT'S ADEQUATE, brimming with excellent music and thought-provoking lyrics. I want MORE like "Walking to Aldebaran", as this sounds like a promising departure for the band. And maybe the album. is too long overall- but that's so subjective on my part.
My rating is nine dystopian solar systems out of ten.
Tracks
1. Sold the Peace (4:15)
2. The Light of Ancient Mistakes (6:40)
3. Avrana Kern is Made of Ants (3:29)
4. The Anxiety Machine (Part 1) (2:10)
5. Sixteen Hugless Years (3:52)
6. The Requisitioner and the Wonder (6:36)
7. The Glamour Boys (4:37)
8. Gothi and Gethli (3:37)
9. I'm Tired and Everything Hurts (2:43)
10. The Anxiety Machine (Part 2) (2:48)
11. Walking to Aldebaran (8:55)
12. Goodbye Cassini (4:40)
13. The Anxiety Machine (Part 3) (1:41)
14. The Man Who Japed (5:10)
15. Burn the World (5:50)
Musicians
- Malcolm Galloway / vocals, lead guitar, keyboards, synths, programming, percussion, drums
- Mark Gatland / bass guitar, slide guitars, keyboards, synths, Chapman Stick, backing vocals, percussion, drums (1-3, 5-9, 11, 12, 14-19)
With:
- Kathryn Thomas / flute (2, 11, 12)
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