Close listening with Philly instrumental ensemble Hour

Eight years ago, guitarist and songwriter Michael Cormier-O’Leary convened an extended circle of friends, including many of his bandmates in Philly’s Friendship. The mission: see what it sounds like when they made abstract instrumental music together. The result was Hour, an ever-expanding ensemble of players that in the time since has made gorgeous records with evocative names like Anemone Red (2018) and Ease The Work (2024).

Their music is breathtaking and haunting; think less of the post-rock swell of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and more of the hushed minimalism of Dirty Three (though fans of both would appreciate what they do). This year, Hour returns with their first ever live album,  Subminiature, which they are currently on the road supporting. I caught up with Cormier-O’Leary over email to talk about the record, the band, and their creative process ahead of a couple return-to-Philly shows this spring at The Rotunda and Johnny Brenda’s.

John Vettese: I’ve always been blown away by how intricately plotted out Hour’s music is, especially for a group comprised of so many people who are all busy with other musical pursuits. How do Hour songs take shape? Are there charts and sheet music or do they come from improv sessions?

Michael Cormier-O’Leary: The music starts with guitar pieces that I write. That’s when the primary melodic ideas and the general structure are determined. I am a compulsive demoer, so the songs go through many recorded iterations before I bring them to the band. Those demos offer some additional arrangement direction, but I’m not always precious about them. Hour is made up of some of my favorite musicians, many of whom have played with the group for a long time. When we get together to learn new music, I have a lot of faith in their impulses. Leading a group like this requires a lot of listening. We often improvise within the form at first and if I hear a part that sticks with me, I urge that player to continue playing it. That makes the arrangement process very dynamic, unfolding in real time during rehearsals. Since not everyone can play every show, the arrangements then morph based on who is able to play any given gig. There is a lot of part trading that occurs, and some players have learned the same music on multiple instruments. It only works because of the commitment and talent of everyone who has agreed to do this with me.

JV: Why did you choose now for a live album? Did it specifically have to do with the touring you did in 2024, or with the players currently in the band? Or was it something else?

MCO: We have toured a lot since 2022, which is when we started rehearsing and writing what would become our latest studio album Ease the Work. A lot of the music really took shape in the live setting. Thankfully many of the shows we played were recorded by our bass clarinetist Keith J. Nelson. He began showing me some of the recordings he made, and I realized that he caught many of the definitive performances of these songs. The fidelity of the recordings was all over the place, ranging from full soundboard mixes to junky hand-me-down cassette recordings. Rather than highlight one specific show, I wanted the live album to demonstrate our versatility and adaptability. The smallest version of the band on the record is a quartet, the largest is thirteen. We played rock clubs, a movie theater, a parking garage, an outdoor stage on a coastal Maine island, and a machine shop, to name a few settings. I’m really proud of our fluidity and resilience. Subminiature is the perfect depiction of the multi-headed hydra that is Hour.

JV: Something about being on the road so extensively — especially, I imagine, as an instrumental art rock band — is getting in front of audiences outside of one’s comfort zone, and getting a fresh and genuine reaction. That seems to happen with the “class is in session” moment from the gig at Liberty, Maine. What exactly is going on there and what made you decide to preserve that moment for the recording?

MCO: Isn’t that moment a hoot? We were so lucky that guy was standing close to the zoom recorder, so that interaction got captured with such endearing clarity. I’m not sure who he was, but he was really moved by the show and made it known to all. He came up to me afterwards and was similarly effusive. Our music is quite accessible even though it may not be the kind of thing many people are accustomed to seeing. All I know is it’s the kind of music I would have been ecstatic to stumble on going to shows when I was younger. I didn’t grow up in a major metropolis, so I was late to hearing a lot of outsider music. Now given the chance, I try to emphasize playing smaller towns like Liberty.

I will add– Liberty was one of the best shows we played on that tour. The midcoast Maine music community is thriving due to the out-of-control cost of living in Portland. Now many of the cool people that used to make things happen in Portland are setting down roots further up the coast. These smaller scenes are of vital importance, and I will continue to prioritize playing in these places. Closer to home in Philly, we just played a phenomenal show at the Soft Machine Gallery in Allentown. I felt similarly to that Liberty show. The reason the show was special was due to the hard work and open hearts of the organizers and the community in attendance.

JV: For songs without words, Hour’s music has some of the most evocative song titles I’ve seen. How does it work creatively — is the music a reflection on the themes the titles allude to, or are pieces given names after they’re finished?

MCO: The music always comes first. I regularly collect titles though, sometimes from books and movies, sometimes overheard from conversations or phrases. The title that most people latch onto, “At the bar where you literally saved me from fatal heartbreak,” was verbatim a text message my friend Andres sent me. I care a lot about words and language, but I know that my ability to communicate deep nuance lies in music first. When I’m composing, I can touch upon emotions I often lack words for. That ability is a precious gift that I take very seriously. Assigning words to the emotions embedded in this music is inherently fraught since those words will never be the feelings themselves. I have to accept my limitations with language and use titles that intentionally only reveal part of the story I’m trying to tell. Hopefully what is disclosed is interesting enough to make someone want to listen and discover more.

JV: The “I Fall To Pieces” cover is lovely. What do you like about that song, and what’s your connection to Jacob Augustine? (He’s great.)

MCO: I love swoony, romantic music and “I Fall to Pieces” is one of the swooniest, most romantic songs ever recorded (despite the fact it’s a lamentable breakup song). Hour covered it at our first performance after lockdown at Porchfest in West Philly in 2021. We always musically fall to pieces at the end, highlighting a central tension we try to emphasize as a band: beauty and discordance in simultaneous relation and opposition. It’s a pretty easy song to play, so lately we’ve been inviting singers in different towns to perform it with us. I grew up in Maine and Jacob Augustine was a local musician I really adored. He made being a professional musician seem possible to me as a starry eyed high schooler, so I owe him a lot for that. He relocated to Philly a little over a year ago. When we were planning the PhilaMOCA release show for Ease the Work, I knew we had to get Jacob to sing with us. His voice is ethereal in the most literal sense of the word. I strongly encourage everyone to revisit his past work. Goldyhymns is my favorite album of his for its rawness and honesty. The song “Waco’ is one of my favorite songs of all time. He frequently opens his live sets with it and it never gets old watching an unassuming/inattentive audience silenced by the immediacy of his voice. It was a big honor to have him sing with us.

JV: After this winter / spring tour, what’s on the agenda for Hour?

MCO: I’m answering these questions from the last BIG tour we are doing for a while. I am so tired. 🙂 But we’ve got a lot of cool stuff coming up! We are playing March 7th show at The Rotunda with 22° Halo, Jason Calhoun, and Adelyn Strei. We’re also opening for Eiko Ishibashi at Johnny Brenda’s on April 3rd ahead of some dates we are doing with my other band Friendship down to Brickside Festival in Durham, NC. We will be sharing a bill with Loren Connors and Suzanne Langille on May 24th at Public Records in Brooklyn. I’ve been talking with Jesse Pires from Lightbox Film Center about us performing a live score for a silent film program sometime in September. That’ll be a dream come true, and my goal moving forward with the group. This summer I am scoring a feature length documentary by local filmmaker Matthew Ober, and I’m eager to get more involved with scoring for film in general. When I get back from the tour I’m on now, Lucas Knapp and I will begin tracking the next Hour LP right here in Philly! This time around I’ve written everything on piano. The pieces are all pretty longform, and it’ll be pretty meticulously arranged. More on that in 2026!

Hour plays The Rotunda on March 7th, 2025 — tickets and information here — and Johnny Brenda’s on April 3rd — tickets here. Stream Subminiature below and support the project on Bandcamp here.