Still Corners / Creatures of an Hour - SP940

Creatures of an Hour, the debut full-length by London’s Still Corners glows with the delicate vocals of singer Tessa Murray and the atmospheric, cinematic influences of songwriter Greg Hughes. A devoted cinephile, Hughes sees film as a major influence in the band, from the projections (created by band member Leon Dufficy) that feature heavily in their live performances, to the free-floating grace of the new album.

Recorded at his own studio in Greenwich, Creatures of an Hour fuses whispered intimacy to the emotional expansiveness of composer Ennio Morricone. Hughes has crafted an album of deceptively simple songs that linger like half-remembered dreams. Lead single Cuckoo shines in its simplicity, a single drumbeat, ghostly guitar, and distant organ highlighting Murray’s haunting soprano as she asks, “I’d like to read your mind/can you read mine?” Hughes explains, “It’s about being confused. Am I going crazy? Does this person like me? What’s happening? That’s the vibe of the whole record really.”

For now, Hughes is happy to maintain Still Corners’ musical mystery. “I don’t like to talk too much on decoding the songs. It takes the mystery away,” he says. Reviewers like Gorilla vs. Bear, Pitchfork and Drowned in Sound, however, have proven more than happy to sing the praises of Still Corners’ pop beauty. So grab some popcorn and stick around—for Still Corners this is just act one.

If you pre-order Creatures of an Hour by October 11th, you’ll receive, for free, a flexi-disc (for those who don’t know, as flexi-discs have only recently reemerged from extinction, here is an explanation of what these really cool things are) featuring an otherwise unavailable, and the remarkably necessary Still Corners track “Cabot Cove.” “Cabot Cove” is also available as a bonus track on the version of Creatures of an Hour available in the iTunes Music Store. The flexi-disc we are giving away here is, so far, the only place you can get this song on a physical format. This offer is only being extended to the first 200 pre-orderers, by the way!

Released: October 11, 2011