...All That Might Have Been...Peter HammillDescription: This is not a disc of conventional songs though the fragments from which it’s formed originally came from discrete examples of the standard form. These pieces though have been cut up and rearranged to form a continuous whole. As in a film scenes blur into one another moving backwards and forwards in time and space. Characters appear and disappear wait in the shadows or are suddenly front of stage and under the spotlight. It’s a chiaroscuro quicksand world in which the music is both its own soundtrack and screenplay. Written and recorded over an eighteen month period - the longest ever for a PH solo work - the album has gone through many twists turns and transformations before arriving in this final form. It's not a concept album as such but its use of jagged soundscapes fletting and shadowed characters and elusive plotlines place it closer to a cinematic world than a narrative song one. The sound palate consists of guitars synths crushed beats and of course insistent vocals. This is unlike anything Peter has attempted before even after forty-five years at the game. The music is continuous cross-fading from one piece to another but the CD is indexed with the following scenes: In overview The last time Never wanted As for him Nowhere special Piper Smile Wanted to belong This might.... Inklings darling Be careful Alien Clock Drifting through Washed up Rumpled sheets Fool-proof Can’t get home Washed away Back road The line goes dead He turns away Hooks.
