Walking Solo

Hamilton Leithauser isn’t exactly an unknown quantity. The Walkmen have been an indie institution for years, and it’s only very recently that their frontman decided to strike out on his own. Black Hours is Leithauser’s debut solo effort. It’s a strong, promising, but somewhat frustrating start.

Around 80% of Black Hours is exactly what you’d expect from Leithauser: listenable, guitar-driven indie rock. It’s the music he’s been making for most of his career and it’s clearly a zone he’s comfortable with. An awful lot of the album plays more or less like The Walkmen do, and that’s certainly not a bad thing, as we’re talking about some very competently done material. Leithauser’s voice is remarkably clear – even at higher pitches, like those found on “Self Pity” – and he does a fine job of working his way through these songs.

The instrumental background is equally solid. There’s an all-star cast of musicians working behind Leithauser, including Morgan Harrison, a multi-instrumentalist and member of Fleet Foxes, and Rostam Batmanglij, best known for his time with Vampire Weekend. These colleagues constitute as good a backing band as you could ask for. Softer touches like the twangy, country-colored guitar featured on “I Retired” and “Bless Your Heart” add some welcome extra contours when they appear.

So that’s all well and good – we’re talking about a perfectly functional piece of indie rock here. But it remains… unremarkable.That’s not really a terrible hack at the album, and we probably wouldn’t take it, were it not for the promise shown by the very first two songs of Black Hours.

“5 AM” is simultaneously one of the most impressive and least representative songs to ever kick off an album. It’s a gorgeous, lounge-inspired showcase of Leithauser’s vocal talent. From the moment the first strings come wafting out of the primordial mush of the intro, you know you’re playing something special. What’s more, the orchestral background is grand, impressive, and sets a precedent that most of Black Hours completely fails to match.

Second song “The Silent Orchestra” does follow up, with a quick-footed feel, and some great marimba playing from Harrison. On those two tracks Leithauser echoes some of the orchestra pop scope that bands like the Moody Blues once hit, and then promptly abandons it for good, but bog-standard indie rock. Magnificent at times, listenable always, disappointing somewhat – here’s looking forward to Leithauser’s next production.