Alex Clare - The Lateness Of The Hour

If the buzz and hype is to be believed, there is much pressure on Alex Clare’s highly anticipated debut. With Switch and Diplo under producer credits, Major Lazer seem to once again, work their magic on ‘The Lateness of the Hour’.

Debut single and opener ‘Up All Night’ with its dancehall influenced rhythms and jagged bass is an example of a polished pop song, perfectly and suitably rough around the edges. Telling the tale of the aftermath of, well, being up all night, Alex Clare takes us on an all too familiar journey of disorientation, confusion in the morning after, with a sense of urgency.

‘Treading Water’ starts off with a touch of R&B before dropping the beat on the chorus. This becomes a defining factor throughout, as tracks seamlessly veer from the soothing slickness to upbeat, danceable tunes. ‘Relax My Beloved’ is full of soul with Clare’s rich vocals at the fore, nestling among a subtle, deep bass. ‘Too Close’ continues the theme of relationships with is quite an exceptional track with a passionate chorus, with Clare’s striking melody and strength, the former being exercised in ‘Hummingbird’.

The rest of the album similarly mixes the tempo and styles with an underlying dubstep tones on the likes of ‘Love You’ to the overt R&B influence with horns/trumpets on ‘Hands Are Clever’. The album ends with ‘I Won’t Let You Down’. Clare is accompanied only by a piano, thus laying his vocals bare, a beautiful, poignant end.

This is a slick, smooth, sexy affair which will no doubt soften the more cynical and hardhearted among us. Yes, there are lots of beats – always dropping. From a thumping bass to unashamed love ballads with a dubstep backdrop, Clare’s honey dipped vocals and song-writing talents finds ‘The Lateness of the Hour’ a perfect antidote to the vacuous milieu of what passes for genre mixed dance/pop/dubstep affairs these days with an obvious passion for soul and the blues.