If you read this website with any regularity, there's a good chance you love some music that's been touched by Michael Cormier-O'Leary. The Philly mainstay plays drums for Friendship, 2nd Grade, and Sachiko Kanenobu, releases his own solo music, and co-runs the essential Dear Life Records, which has released modern classics from MJ Lenderman, Styrofoam Winos, Fust, Florry, Thomas Dollbaum, Little Mazarn, and others. But did you know he's also a composer?
Cormier-O'Leary heads up the instrumental ensemble Hour. The group's Bandcamp genre tags include "devotional," "experimental," "soundtrack," and "ambient." I'd call it neoclassical in a pinch, post-rock if I were taking the piss. Hour play pensive, emotional, piano-led songs with a mostly acoustic orchestral palette, though there are some sounds culled from plug-in instruments like electric guitar and synthesizer. Their new album Ghost Bridge, the follow-up to 2024's Ease The Work, was recorded in a basement studio and features many fixtures of the local indie scene, including Cormier-O'Leary's Friendship/2nd Grade bandmate Peter Gill, Abi Reimold, Jason Calhoun, Lucas Knapp, and many more.
"Ghost Bridge," the new album's nearly 10-minute title track, is out today. If you're new to Hour, it's an ideal introduction to the band's approach: a deeply thoughtful, heartbreakingly beautiful slow-drift that lets a bit of noise in on the fringes at times as if to remind you of its underground rock pedigree. Watch Cormier-O'Leary's short film for the song below.
TRACKLIST:
01 "So Long Without A Word"
02 "Pearls"
03 "Centralia"
04 "Ghost Bridge"
05 "Sky Is Blue"
06 "Sonny"
Ghost Bridge is out 10/9 on Dear Life. Pre-order it here.
