Few bands have morphed as successfully as Marillion. No one in their right mind would have guessed that a band that began life as Genesis-wannabe neo-proggers would later release albums as dreamy as 2004’s “Marbles,” or the mindwarp we call “Brave” from a decade earlier, or that those then-undreamt forays into mental anguish and sonic chill zones would impact both the band band and their rabid audience in the manner that they have. Marillion did however drop off my radar in the mid-2000s (and single parenthood is a damn good excuse for that, so don’t @ me), and even though I found 2016’s “Fuck Everyone and Run” to be compelling, I also found it mostly unmemorable.
That’s not the case with “An Hour Before It’s Dark.” A decidedly moody-sounding record, Marillion’s twentieth – twentieth – record opens with longtime front-man Steve Hogarth urging his audience to “Be Hard On Yourself,” quite the turnaround from the “Don’t Hurt Yourself” of nearly two decades ago, but whatever. This refreshingly morose song would inspire all the tension and doubt Hogarth’s lyrics convey even if he were singing the lyrics of Mr. Trololol‘s signature tune, and the very fact that these guys are able to summon any emotions at all even if they were singing absolute gibberish speaks to what a vital machine Marillion is. I can think of no other sexagenarians who have any business sounding as young, hungry, and fervent as Marillion does on “An Hour Before It’s Dark.”
Speaking of fervor, Hogarth does us a solid by absolutely not singing absolute nonsense. Covering topics such as mortality and empathy has long been one of Marillion’s strong suits, and they come through in fine fucking form on cuts such as “The Crow and the Nightingale,” “Care,” and the relatively upbeat “Murder Machines.” The two former cuts deserve special mention for the subtle genius the Choir Noir adds to the mood. They display no extravagance, nor is there a need for them to do so, and that very restraint indicates that Marillion and their collaborators have matured far more than they’ve aged. You don’t add a cup of salt when all you need is a dash.
As strong as many of these songs are, it’s perhaps “Care” that deserves Instant Classic status. Yet another apex in the nouveau-Marillion era, “Care” opens with a danceable electronic-inspired groove that echo the band’s early 2000’s flirtations…
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