The Lateness of the Hour (album)

Background

All the songs on the album apart from a cover of Prince's "When Doves Cry" were co-written by Alex Clare. Most of these songs were about his personal relationships. According to Clare, they came from "a combination of lots of different situations I’ve been in with unrequited love or love that's gone terribly wrong." "Too Close" for example was inspired by a particular relationship with a close friend that turned romantic but "didn't really work out and that felt too close." Other album tracks like "Whispering" and "Tight Rope" were inspired by his childhood surroundings as well as his love for literature.

The album was released in the UK in 2011, but sold poorly initially and Clare was effectively dropped from his label. A month after he was dropped, he was contacted for permission to use a song from the album, "Too Close", in an advertising campaign for Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9. The advertising campaign propelled the song up the chart, and soon after, Universal Republic Records signed Clare to a distribution deal that allowed The Lateness of the Hour to be rush-released in America on iTunes on 24 March 2012.

Recording

After Alex Clare signed with Island Records, he teamed up with Diplo and Switch (Major Lazer) in 2010 to collaborate on his debut album. The recording of the album took about 10 weeks in total, working around the Diplo's tour schedule. It was first recorded in New Orleans, then later in the year in Jamaica and eventually five weeks in Los Angeles.

Clare wrote the album, and had a handful of songs including "Too Close" already in demo form before hitting the studio. Clare described the experience of recording with Diplo and Switch "intense" but ultimately rewarding. According to Clare, Diplo and Switch "wanted to focus more on live instruments which was something I don't think they're used to," and "It was a challenge for them, a challenge for me and good things came out of it. We clicked very quickly."

Singles

Critical reception

The album got mixed impressions via Metacritic, which it received a 58 out of a possible 100 points. The Lateness of the Hour got a few favourable ratings from the critics, and those come from Mojo, who gave the album a four-out-of-a-possible-five-stars. They called the album "A majorly impressive debut." Furthermore, the other one came from The Independent, who gave the album a four-out-of-a-possible-five-stars, and Andy Gill said the album was "An impressive debut, albeit one light on lyrical depth."

The mixed reviews came in from AllMusic, who gave the album a three-out-of-a-possible-five-stars, and Jon O'Brien wrote that the album "appears to be more concerned with creating a bold statement of intent than in showcasing Clare's undeniable talents." In addition, Drowned in Sound gave it a mixed impression review with a four-out-of-a-possible-ten, when Robert Leedham stated "All in all, the overriding impression left by The Lateness of the Hour is that Alex Clare is a fairly gifted gentleman. But here his talents have been squandered on a collection of songs that fail to establish him as either a dance-pop titan or an emotive warbler. It is a shame for Clare and even more of a shame that anyone thought dubstep, or several of the genre's hallmarks, could be so crudely co-opted into an obviously unwieldy vehicle. Perhaps he will have better luck with his witch house follow-up." To this, Uncut gave the album a two-out-of-a-possible-five-stars, and they noted "Much of it is a coffee-table approximation of the producer duo's more irreverent work." On a more upbeat note, musicOMH gave the album a three-out-of-a-possible-five-stars because as Ben Hogwood noted "Clare could, then, be accused of trying too hard, and of being difficult to pin down as an artist stylistically. Is it dubstep? In parts. Is it soulful? When it wants to be. But perhaps the most crucial question is whether it shows potential or not – and happily for Clare the answer is affirmative. With a little more focus and a natural approach, he could find himself a unique voice that sits outside of the styles he is trying to embrace."

The lone highly negative review came in from Pitchfork, who gave the album a 3.7-out-of-a-possible-ten points, and Ian Cohen wrote that "...Lateness never does much to prove Clare and his producers were on the same page (let alone reading from the same book)...Truth is, it's much easier getting mad at the marketing plan of Lateness of the Hour than the record itself: The total mismatch of artistic motivation makes everyone involved come off like innocent bystanders, not manipulators."

Chart and sales performance

The album performed poorly when it was first released in the UK where it debuted at number 156 in the chart. After the launch of the advert for Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9 where the song "Too Close" was used, it sold 10 times better than they imagined it to sell. It peaked at number 17 in the UK chart.

The album entered the Billboard 200 at number 123 with sales of 4,000 after its rush-release on iTunes on 24 March 2012. It peaked at number 48.