Announcing Subminiature, our first full length live album. It’ll be released on Valentine’s Day. You can listen to the lead single performance of ‘At the Bar Where You Literally Saved Me From Fatal Heartbreak’ wherever you listen to music. Cassette and CD versions available via Dear Life Records.
The band shapeshifts throughout the record, but here’s everyone involved:
@jacobaugustinemusic@_jasoncalhoun@milkocromlom@emgetsdown
Matt Fox
@2ndgradephilly@senstive_plant@the.dark.wholesome@prettypurgatory
Keith J. Nelson
@delphicbasin@abireimold@adelyn.strei
Recordings gathered from the past two years of shows, mixed and mastered by Keith J. Nelson. Live board recordings were taken by Lucas Knapp.
Video by @matt_name , watch the full thing on YouTube.
Album artwork taken with a Minox B subminiature spy camera with purple lomochrome film by @theincrediblepurp
Concert photo by Shane O’Leary
See the next post for tour info. We’ve got a fun one planned.
twin singles ‘Saturday After Payday/Absence is a Heady Spice’ are streaming now wherever you do that. These two cuts from the Ease the Work session had a distinct character all their own so we kept them off the record. I’m really proud of this music, which were some of the first pieces I composed on piano while writing Ease the Work.
@milkocromlom Michael Cormier-O’Leary - electric guitar
@emgetsdown Em Downing - violin
Matt Fox - viola
@elisabethfuchsia Elisabeth Fuchsia - violin
@2ndgradephilly Peter Gill - bass
@the.dark.wholesome Evan McGonagill - cello
@prettypurgatory Peter McLaughlin - drums
@delphicbasin Erika Nininger - piano
Recorded by Keith J. Nelson
Mixed by @senstive_plant
Mastered by @loudnesswarveteran
Album cover by @theincrediblepurp
Press photo by @gregrutkin
Ease the Work is out today. I’m really ecstatic to share it publicly. This group only exists due to the talent and generosity of so many people. I hope that generosity is communicated on this record. Check out the video we just released for Island Time/Kelly’s House, made from the few clips of video I managed to capture on day one of recording. Buzz Lombardi ran a cut of the footage through an Xbox 360 to make it nice and soft.
The band:
Jason Calhoun, Em Downing, Matt Fox, Elisabeth Fuchsia, Peter Gill, Lucas Knapp, Evan McGonagill, Peter McLaughlin, Keith J. Nelson, Erika Nininger, Abi Reimold. Though not on the record, Frank Meadows and Adelyn Strei have joined the live group as well. It is the greatest honor of my life to play this music with you all. Thanks for attempting this with me.
The record:
Recorded at the Greenwood Playhouse on Peaks Island by Keith Nelson, additional engineering by Lucas Knapp. Mixed by Lucas Knapp. Mastered by Jack Callahan. Thanks to everyone on the island who made our week long session possible.
The artwork:
Francis Lyons is responsible for all the artwork. Thanks to Fran for finding this abandoned dry cleaner in upstate New York and crafting such a perfect vision with it.
The photos:
Thanks to Greg Rutkin for the press photos. He made the 10 of us feel so calm and confident.
The words:
Thanks to my friend Dan Wriggins for writing about the record and writing an original poem that is included in all the packaging. I’m lucky that our biggest fan is someone I respect so deeply.
The label:
Thanks to Frank and Jon who run Dear Life with me for the invaluable support. Thanks to Mike and Shil for believing in the music.
Most of all thanks to my wife Meggy, I can’t even believe how lucky I am to have such a supportive partner and friend. She’s the star.
Subminiature, the new live album by Philadelphia instrumental chamber folk ensemble Hour, comes fresh off the heels of 2024’s ‘Ease the Work’ and provides a capstone for the band’s oeuvre to date, brandishing new material alongside long standing arrangements of pieces from 2018’s ‘Anemone Red’ and ‘Tiny Houses’, the inaugural releases of Dear Life Records.
Across this collection of recordings harvested over two years of extensive DIY touring, bandleader/composer Michael Cormier-O’Leary demonstrates a deep understanding of the character of his shifting ensemble and its players. Subminiature also serves as a hard worn tour diary, cataloguing concerts that were affectionately curated to highlight the strength of the music; at once adventurous and melodic and insistent upon spaces that encourage deeper connection. These tours saw the group performing in movie theaters, on islands, in machine shops and parking garages, crowded bars and living rooms, churches and theaters. Invariably, the music expands and contracts to match the space the ensemble is performing in. Recorded on a range of recording devices, this impressive live album highlights the focus and dynamism of a hardworking, fluid ensemble.
Hour performs on Tuesday December 9th 7:30PM at The Perch located at 2321 Emerald Street (2 blocks from the York/Dauphin MFL/L1 station). also performing are Weirs & Channel Marker. Tickets and info link in bio.
See you there!
Our last show of 2025 is a @fire_museum_presents show at @theperch_musicandarts_workshop with dear friends and labelmates @weirs.ig , plus a performance by Channel Marker.
After that we’ll spend some time getting new material performance ready.
Thanks for coming to an Hour show this year. We’ve had a ball.
Mike took the poster photo at a lake in New Jersey this summer. 2nd photo from Littleton, NH last year, taken by Keith J. Nelson. This show will be so much colder than these photos suggest.
