Loading…
Loading…
Description
**Black Hours** marks the long-awaited solo debut of Hamilton Leithauser, stepping away from The Walkmen's garage-rock fervor to forge a more intimate, melancholic space. Released on June 3, 2014, the album hovers between folk-inflected singer-songwriter aesthetics and polished indie-pop, recorded across a labyrinth of locations including Inner Ear Studios in Washington, DC, Plymoth & Adams in Brooklyn, St. Ann & The Holy Trinity Church, and Vox Studios in Los Angeles. The geographic sprawl mirrors the album's emotional range-wistful, intimate, yet never surrendering to self-indulgence.
Leithauser leans into the torchy vocal traditions of the '50s and '60s, but modernizes them with a cool detachment that feels distinctly 2010s indie. Collaborators include Rostam Batmanglij of Vampire Weekend and Morgan Henderson of Fleet Foxes, lending production sheen to tracks that nonetheless prioritize Leithauser's weary, yearning baritone. The result is an album that sounds both nostalgic and forward-thinking-never entirely sure where it stands, which perhaps is the point. A number of songs feature piano as lead instrument, but guitar and bass still lurk in the background.
Though not a commercial juggernaut, *Black Hours* is a quietly ambitious record. Critics noted it as a testament to Leithauser's vocal endurance and compositional craft. The deluxe edition later expanded this already rich landscape with deeper cuts and alternate takes. A few tracks were originally written before The Walkmen dissolved, suggesting this project was the emotional anchor for an era of reinvention. It remains a cornerstone of his discography, bridging his roots with what would follow in *I Had a Dream That You Were Mine* and beyond.
[AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/black-hours-mw0002630464) | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Hours_(album)) | [Genius](https://genius.com/artists/Hamilton-leithauser)
Please log in to edit this record.