Eric Matthews

Item: The Lateness of the Hour
Author: Jason Morehead

The Lateness of the Hour

(1997)

Reviewed by Jason Morehead

Discogs Apple Music TIDAL Amazon Music Spotify YouTube Music

Label Sub PopOpus2001

art rock indie pop

Originally published at Opus

Ahhhh... the satisfaction of another Eric Matthews album. For those of you not in the know, Eric Matthews is the hope for all of you bored with today's pop music. Matthews is quite the composer and his pop music may seem indulgent and downright pretentious at times. Sure it's toe-tapping, hummable, and catchy. But that's not a sin. Especially when it's done by someone as talented as Mr. Matthews.

Last year, I raved about Matthews' Sub Pop debut It's Heavy In Here. I felt that, while that album was brilliant and great, it seemed a little too contrived and forced. A small complaint. Well, on The Lateness of the Hour, Matthews seems to have become much more natural. The songs seem a little bouncier and brighter. It's Heavy In Here began with the anthemic "Fanfare." While no track on The Lateness of the Hour is quite as catchy off-the-top, songs like "Everything So Real" and "The Pleasant Kind" come close to catching the unfettered spirit of "Fanfare."

However, it's in songs like "My Morning Parade," "Gilded Cages," and "Festival Fun" where the strengths of this album lie. "My Morning Parade" is just drop-dead gorgeous and is easily my favorite track. The chorus is punctuated by horns and gentle organ swells. "Gilded Cages" and "Festival Fun" are darkly beautiful, with Matthews' whispering, sensuous voice beckoning over shivering strings and golden horns. Stately and dignified, this lush orchestral stuff is Matthews at his best.

While Matthews' songs can run from cryptic to just mildly mysterious, he seems to love to play with words as much as he loves to play with orchestration and arrangements. But the wordplay doesn't detract from the emotion at all. The result is another gem from the mind of Eric Matthews. Some of his songs are even, gasp, radio-friendly (if there were any cool radio stations). Pop this into your player during some rainy day, but you might start singing along before long.