''Gathering Mercury'' is the eleventh studio album by

Colin Hay Colin James Hay (born 29 June 1953) is a Scottish-Australian musician. He came to prominence as the lead vocalist and the sole continuous member of the band Men at Work, and later as a solo artist. Hay is a member of the band Ringo Starr & His ...

, released on 9 May 2011, on

Compass Records Compass Records is an American independent record label founded in 1995 by musicians Garry West and Alison Brown that specializes in folk, bluegrass, Celtic, jazz, and acoustic music. In 2006, Compass purchased the Green Linnet and Xenophil ...

. Regarding the album's thematic content, Hay said, "I think it’s about life and loss and the injustice of the way the universe is set up; how we lose people we love."

Background and recording

The album is partly inspired by the death of Hay's father in 2010. On the album's release, Hay noted, "The loss of my father last year brought an unavoidable emotional contingent to writing and recording. I don’t have a definitive belief in an afterlife, but I do feel like I had his help when I was working on this album, especially alone late at night, in the studio. ..The night my father died, I was in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

on the

River Clyde The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the second longest in Scotland after the River Tay. It runs through the city of Glasgow. Th ...

, about twenty streets away from where he was born. There’s some kind of bleak poetry in that, very bleak." ''Gathering Mercury'' was recorded at Hay's home studio, The Washroom.

Reception

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album a positive review, writing, "Although it’s a full production with electric guitars, pianos, backing voices, and drums, it leaves the impression of an intimate acoustic performance, partially because the songs are so casually lyrical in their description of the everyday."

Track listing

#"Send Somebody" (Georgiades, Hay) – 4:37 #"Family Man" (Hay) – 4:24 #"Invisible" (Hay) – 4:03 #"Dear Father" (Hay) – 3:19 #"Gathering Mercury" (Hay, Noel) – 4:21 #"Half A Million Angels" (Georgiades) – 4:03 #"Far From Home" (Hay) – 3:53 #"Where The Sky Is Blue" (Hay) – 4:05 #"A Simple Song" (Hay) – 3:30 #"Goodnight Romeo" (Hay) – 2:49 ;Deluxe edition tracks #"Send Somebody (Stripped Mix)" (Hay) – 4:35 #"Invisible (Stripped Mix)" (Hay) – 3:51 #"Half A Million Angels (Stripped Mix)" (Hay) – 4:03 #"Where The Sky Is Blue (Stripped Mix)" (Hay) – 4:05

Personnel

Musicians

- vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, gryphon twelve-string guitar (''4''), harmonium (''4, 10''), lap steel guitar (''8''), banjo (''8''), woodskin (''9'') *

Chad Fischer Chad Fischer is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer from Santa Monica, California, also known as the frontman of the band Lazlo Bane. Early years Chad Fischer's early work was being a drummer for the ba ...

- drums (''1, 8'') percussion (''1, 2, 5, 7'') piano (''1, 5''), backing vocals (''1, 5''), bass guitar (''5''), xylophone (''1''), bells (''2''), mellotron (''4'') *Joe Karnes - bass guitar (''1, 7, 8'') *Jeff Babko - piano (''2, 6, 8''), organ (''3, 7'') *

Jimmy Earl James Christopher Earl (born 1957) is an American jazz bass guitarist who is a member of the ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' band. Early life and education In 1957, James Christopher Earl was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to James and Sylvia Earl. He i ...

- bass guitar (''2, 3, 6'') * Cecilia Nöel - harmony and backing vocals (''3, 6, 7, 8''), maracas (''9'') *Charlie Paxson - drums (''2'') *Michael Georgiades - acoustic and electric guitars (''1''), backing vocals (''1'') *

Randy Cooke Randy Cooke is a Canadian-American drummer, percussionist, session musician, and touring musician. Biography Influenced by his drummer father, Cooke picked up the drums as a child, learning and playing as part of a local drum corps before starti ...

- drums (''3, 6, 7'') *Sean Woolstenhulme - electric guitar (''3, 6'') *

Luis Conte Luis Conte (born 16 November 1954) is a Cuban percussionist best known for his performances in the bands of artists including James Taylor, Madonna, Pat Metheny Group, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Phil Collins, Rod Stewart and Shakira. He began ...

- percussion (''3, 6'') *

Oliver Kraus Oliver Kraus (born 1970 in Shepherd's Bush, London) is an English musician best known for his work as a cellist and string arranger/ producer and composer for film and television. String arrangements and performance Kraus has performed with nume ...

- cello, viola and string arrangements (''4'') *

Rob Clores Rob Clores is an American, New York–based keyboard player and composer who has toured and recorded with Jesse Malin, The Black Crowes, Tom Jones, Men at Work frontman Colin Hay, Marius Muller Westernhagen, Enrique Iglesias, Blues Traveler ...

- piano and harmonium (''5'') *

Kaveh Rastegar Kaveh Rastegar is a Persian-American record producer, composer, and bass guitarist. He is best known for his work with John Legend, Sia, Bruno Mars, and Sting and Kneebody. He has two Grammy nominations. For over twenty years, Kaveh Rastegar ...

- double bass (''9'')

Recording personnel

- producer, engineer *Chad Fischer - co-producer (''1, 5''), additional engineering, mixing *Randy LeRoy - mastering

Artwork

*Martin Smith - photography *Robert Hakalski - package design, booklet photos

References

External links

*
Colin Hay is still at workMan at Work: A Colin Hay Q&AColin Hay a working man from way back
{{Authority control Colin Hay albums 2011 albums