Alex Clare: The Lateness of the Hour

Everyone knows that love is the most prevalent theme throughout all music.  It crosses into every genre and almost everyone can relate to it.  This album is not unique to that condition in any way.  Alex Clare’s debut album oozes heartache and misfortune in terms of love.  The Lateness of the Hour exemplifies the theme of love but in a very modern sense.  Over time, the idea of falling in love has changed into a less romanticized journey.  It has changed from finding love in people who are arranged to be married, to finding love through exploring as many relationships as possible.  Monogamy was valued as a necessity to maintain a love filled relationship previously and now that has changed into what is known as a “hook-up” culture.  It is socially acceptable to see many people at once as long as no exclusivity has been established now.  Even sex has become acceptable with many partners as long as no boundaries of exclusivity have been established.  Alex Clare establishes his use of the modern belief system throughout this album.  He writes about sleeping around and being unable to stay with one person within the album.  Nothing stays the same throughout all of time and music reflects the changes in cultural practices. 

            The Lateness of the Hour is criticized by major music review websites, such as Pitchfork, because of the integration of modern and more historic musical and lyrical ideas.  The musicality of the album integrates more modern music into the soul genre through incorporating EDM into the songs.  Clare has a very soulful voice that is juxtaposed in this album through the prevalence of strong bass and dance background music.  Alex Clare had Diplo and Major Lazer producing this album with him, which led to the use of dance beats.  Their influence seamlessly integrated the two genres.  Clare’s timbre is perfectly matched to slower, more intricate beats when he is singing at a normal volume.  When he crescendo’s Diplo and Major Lazer cranked up the bass to match his volume and intensity.  Even though these two genres of music seem so separate, with one having years of historical background and the other being a new technique, when they come together, it’s magic. This album is hard to swallow at first but the second time around, there’s no way to dislike it.  The people who critiqued this album focused too much on how the two genres present were unlike each other, and not on how well they played together.

            Alex Clare seems to dabble in the arts of pushing the boundaries.  He tested them through integrating soul and EDM and tested them again when he integrated modern and outdated cultural beliefs of love and sex.  This album touches subjects such as infidelity and not being able to commit, as well as the idea of not wanting to lose someone.  The song hummingbird touches on the more antique idea of loving someone and only them.  Throughout the song, it shows how much Clare wants to be with this woman and to love her.  Unfortunately she is ‘hovering’ around him, dodging his attempts to show her how much he cares.  This is a very unique type of breakup song because it’s not from the perspective of someone who has been wronged or broken up with, but from the person who knows the end is near and can’t do anything to stop it from coming.  Relax my Beloved is very similar in the sense that it’s about not letting go.  He’s desperately trying to provide support and understanding to someone who he’s struggling with, in the hopes of a maintaining a relationship.  There’s a tangible pain felt within these songs, as he is aching to be loved in return.  These songs share a very restrained EDM background beat.  In Hummingbird the beat remains steady and calm until the chorus, where the bass climaxes and Alex Clare sings his heart out.  Relax My Beloved also has a very mellow beat until the first chorus where the pace increases but still remains steady for the rest of the song.  The musicality is an indicator of stability and sameness, that monogamy and relationships have. 

            Up All Night is the most major change in views of sexuality.  This song is entirely about infidelity and getting away with sleeping with someone else.  This song epitomizes the idea of a ‘hook-up culture.’  He is leaving one woman to have sex with another, never seeking satisfaction in one person but through the love of many.  He expresses that he has been wasting his youth by spending it with one person and not exploring the love of other women.  Hands Are Clever is another song that explores the modern ideas of relationships.  It describes how Clare is trying to woo a woman by being very direct in what he wants to do with her.  He describes how he’s not looking to raise a family or play games.  The intention of sleeping with this woman becomes entirely clear when he sings “There’s only so much I can say,/ to convince you/ Though words have their place,/ not in a bedroom.”  The song encircles the modern views of love and sex, through the pursuance of a purely sexual relationship with no intent of a future.  Both of these songs are upbeat, with a fast paced tempo.  Their musicality seems to parallel the ideals held within the songs.  Sleeping with many people and not committing is a very fast paced way of having relationships and with the intense bass of Up All Night and the high energy jazz instruments of Hands Are Clever, there’s no slowing down. 

            This album is a fluctuating view from loving one person to loving many and all the gray area in between.  Every facet of love is addressed within this album.  It’s very raw and truthful to the fickle nature of love.  Some people decide to maintain old values and stay with one person and some decide to assimilate to modern ideals.  And then there are some like Alex Clare that dabble in both.  This album carries Clare through desperately fighting for one woman to exploring the life of loving many women.  It ventures into the world of envisioning being with someone, knowing the outcome and encountering a bad ending while still wanting to make the relationship work.  There’s truly no happy ending in any of these songs but it is alluring nonetheless.  The fluidity of the music and the musicality making melancholy stories seem upbeat is unique.  It has an addictive quality because playing the album once doesn’t express the many dimensions of it.  Each time it is listened to, a new aspect is noticed and it adds its beauty and intricacy.  Alex Clare is an artist of words with a soulful voice and with the help of his producers, his work is a representation of his artistry.  There are very few artists out there with music like Clare’s but the artists that do venture into mixed genres, like James Blake, don’t come near the mastery of this album.

Works Cited:

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Cohen, Ian. "Alex Clare: The Lateness of the Hour." Pitchfork. N.p., 5 Aug. 2011. Web. 19 Nov.                      2015.

Nicky Da B. Express Yourself. Diplo (ft. Nicky Da B). Rec. 11 June 2012. Mad Decent Protocol                     2012. MP3.

Ray, Elisa. "Alex Clare Interview: Three Years after His Debut Album Flopped, the Musician Is                   Back with a Bang." The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, 7 Nov.                             2014. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.

Rogers, Kathleen Béres. "Permeability And Its Uses: Affect And Audience In Charlotte                                 Smith's Elegiac Sonnets." Women's Writing 16.1 (2009): 126-42. Academic                                           Search Complete [EBSCO]. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.  

Rundell, John. "Slave to the Rhythm or Love, Sex and the Dialectic of Freedom." Thesis                               Eleven 117.1 (2013): 127-34. Academic Search Complete [EBSCO]. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.