''An Hour Before It's Dark'' is the 20th studio album by British

neo-progressive rock Neo-progressive rock (also known as neo-prog) is a subgenre of progressive rock which developed in the UK in the early 1980s. The genre's most popular band, Marillion, achieved mainstream success in the decade. Several bands from the genre have c ...

band

Marillion Marillion are a British rock band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becoming the mos ...

, released on 4 March 2022 by Intact and

earMUSIC Edel SE & Co. KGaA is a German independent media company based in Hamburg. As a label and publishing group, it also operates marketing and sales for artists and smaller music labels. The repertoire of the Edel labels includes dance, rock and po ...

Background

On 3 August 2021, Marillion announced the launch of their new pre-order campaign for the recording and release of a new studio album, their first since ''With Friends from the Orchestra'' (2019). Frontman

Steve Hogarth Steve Hogarth (born Ronald Stephen Hoggarth, 14 May 1956 in Kendal, Westmorland) also known as "h", is an English singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Since 1989 he has been the lead singer of the British rock band Marillion, for whi ...

said "the overall feeling" of the album "is surprisingly upbeat", with the Choir Noir adding "new soul" and "colour" to the music. The album includes a behind the scenes documentary about the making of the record, and a performance of "Murder Machines" from Real World Studios.

Release

''An Hour Before It's Dark'' was released on 4 March 2022. To promote the record, several London black cabs were decorated with the album's artwork and free rides are given if the customer mentioned a password, which was the album's title. The promotion ran from 4–14 March. On 7 March 2022, the band announced a 9-date UK tour for September 2022.

Commercial performance

On the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

dated 11 March 2022, ''An Hour Before It's Dark'' entered at number two, their highest chart position since ''Clutching at Straws'' in 1987.

Track listing

Note: After 4 minutes of silence following "Angels on Earth", the CD will play a 12" remix of "Murder Machines".

Personnel

Marillion *

Pete Trewavas Peter Trewavas (born 15 January 1959) is an English musician, known as the bassist of Marillion. He joined in 1982, replacing Diz Minnitt, while acting occasionally as a backing vocalist and acoustic guitarist. Trewavas was born in Middlesbroug ...

– bass guitar *

Ian Mosley Ian F. Mosley (born 16 June 1953, Paddington, London, England) is an English drummer. He is best known for his long-time membership of the neo-progressive rock band Marillion, which he joined for their second album, ''Fugazi'', released in 19 ...

– drums *

Steve Rothery Steven Rothery (born 25 November 1959) is an English musician. He is the original guitarist and the longest continuous member of the British rock band Marillion. Outside Marillion, Rothery has recorded two albums as part of the duo the Wishing ...

– electric guitar *

Mark Kelly Mark Edward Kelly (born February 21, 1964) is an American politician, former astronaut, and United States Navy captain who has served as the junior United States senator from Arizona since 2020. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elect ...

– keyboards *

– lead vocals Additional musicians *Choir Noir – vocals on "Murder Machines", "The Crow and the Nightingale", "Care" Production *Marillion – production *Michael Hunter – production, recording, mixing *Simon Ward – artwork

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hour Before It's Dark, An 2022 albums Marillion albums Albums impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic