| The Lateness of the Hour | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Eric Matthews |
| Cover: | The Lateness of the Hour (Eric Matthews album).jpg |
| Released: | 1997 |
| Label: | Sub Pop[1] |
| Producer: | Eric Matthews, Tony Lash |
| Prev Title: | It's Heavy in Here |
| Prev Year: | 1995 |
| Next Title: | Six Kinds of Passion Looking for an Exit |
| Next Year: | 2005 |
The Lateness of the Hour is the second album by the American musician Eric Matthews, released in 1997.[2] [3] "My Morning Parade" was originally included as a 7" single with the vinyl version of the album. The album was part of the ork pop trend of the 1990s.[4]
The Lateness of the Hour was produced by Tony Lash and Matthews, who also played flugelhorn and harpsichord, among other instruments.[5] Jason Falkner played guitar on the album; Matthews's younger brother Wes also contributed.[6] [7] Three songs, "Gilded Cages", "To Clear the Air", and "Festival Fun", do not include drums, bass, or guitar.[8] Matthews recorded the vocals and acoustic guitars with Manley microphones.[9]
Salon wrote that "it's ironic that the album's best moments are those when he tears down his Brill Building façade and turns the guitars up a bit, as on 'Everything So Real' and especially 'The Pleasant Kind', the one song where Matthews' melodic sensibility doesn't sound grave-robbed."[10] Entertainment Weekly noted that "this smooth, lovely set of melancholia is never overwhelmed by its ambitions."[5]
The Boston Globe stated that "Matthews' exceptional music is lovely and strange; if only his opaque lyrics were equally evocative."[11] Rolling Stone determined that "the piano, bass and spare percussion on 'No Gnashing Teeth' serve an arrangement that would make Brian Wilson proud."[12] The Dayton Daily News opined that Matthews "sings in a hushed whisper reminiscent of the late folkie Nick Drake."[13]
The St. Catharines Standard listed it among the best 20 albums of 1997.[14] The Philadelphia Inquirer also considered it to be one of 1997's best, deeming it a "florid masterwork."[15]
AllMusic wrote that "the best songs have an effortless grace, while even the weaker moments are enjoyable because of the lavish arrangements."