HOURGLASS

With a 7 year gap in major releases inadequately bridged by a couple of albeit alluring singles, singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/prog crackerjack CARY HEUCHERT finally returned in 2021 with "Hourglass".

Lyrically devoted to, indeed obsessed with, everlasting love for that one special someone and the shift it signals in one's view of the incessant march of hours, the spacey mostly acoustic arrangements and Heuchert's balmy voice remain the preeminent aspects of his signature. And that is a good thing, as they mostly compensate for the almost unbroken string of earnest platitudes that form the basis of most of the vocal sections. The opener, "This is the Time", and closer "Fortune Smiles", are more mystical to my ears, while "Together" whisks in a relatively more aggressive arrangement including a fine lead guitar solo, making these three my picks for the long haul. Tony Pagliuca of LE ORME offers up luxuriant guest piano on "You are the World to me". The tepid old rock of "I Don't Want to Say Goodnight to You" certainly introduces contrast but the end result is more discord than diversity.

"Hourglass" shouldn't disappoint those familiar with Heuchert and, while I might recommend his "Nocturne" album first to prog listeners, your time would be well spent right here.

It took seven years for Cary to follow-up on 'Blue Rain', but in 2021 he returned with 'Hourglass'. As with the previous album this is primarily a solo affair, with Cary providing the vast majority of the instruments but he does have a couple of bassists on different songs with the biggest difference being the assistance of drummer Grant Ball on many. Here we have an album which is out of time, and sounds as if it should have been released no later than 1972, and even that could be a push. This album is steeped in psychedelia, as well as bringing in some classic Mellotron and Moog sounds and comes across as Roy Harper crossed with Tyrannosaurus Rex (yes, the earlier variant).

It is dreamy, full of space, without a care as Cary sings his love songs in an era when the world was full of peace and love. It is an incredibly relaxing album, full of space within the arrangements, which can be surprisingly complex even when coming across as being simple. The more this is played the more one notices the nuances here and there from different instruments which add to the overall feeling without ever intruding into the sound. The ballads have a simplicity which feels so at odds with the rushing and hectic world we now live in, and the album moves us in both emotion and time.

It is an album which benefits from being played on headphones when one really has the time to devote to it and relax into Cary's world from a time past.