THE FUTURE NOW

I think Hammill writes much better songs when he's addressing feelings of his own rather than general concern, because when he does the latter he rarely puts the personal touch and often sounds fake. But not here, on The Future Now, PH finally suceeded in marrying both in a cohesive whole, and by the tone of his voice you can really tell he cares about what he's singing, something he would rarely be able to do again in the same context.

Van der Graaf (the Generator part has been dropped since 1977) was pretty much lost by now, so, in the meantime between the Marquee one-offs in January and the last european tour in May, Hammill and his stuff temporarily moved to a house in Surrey to record this DIY album. The heating system sent clicks whenever it kicked in, so it had to be turned off while recording, which meant being in the cold outside temperature of March, something he would regret later, and yet, it gave him the freedom to follow his own stream of consciousness without pressure from anybody else.

The only problem I can think of is the lack of hooks, riffs and melodies, making some of the songs rather unforgettable at first, at least, they last less than five minutes and they're also pretty different from each other so as not to sound samey or uninspired, specially because it is quite the opposite.

I know it is not a popular thought, but to me, The Future Now is Hammill's best work just because it is more cohesive and mature than Chameleon, Silent Corner and In Camera.

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