Peter Hammill
And Close as This

After almost twenty years of a most noble career, Peter Hammill releases "And Close as This". The year of release is 1986. This album is the opposite of "Over", dated 1977, considered by many to be one of his creative peaks. In fact, both albums have love as their main theme; but, while "Over" is an intense melodrama that tells the end of a sentimental story and the difficulty in building sincere and lasting relationships, "And Close As This" offers a reconciled view towards the surrounding world. In short, these two works are in a mutual relationship reminiscent of Yin and Yang. Peter Hammill is the only credited musician (the only instruments, instead, are the voice, the grand piano, and keyboards), and this is a sign of his will to retreat into his own intimacy and tell, through music, his own emotional world.

"And Close As This", according to the undersigned, is a "unicum" in the career of this particular musician because it doesn't sound difficult at all (the verse-chorus formula is used for all the songs, which is rare in his vast discography), even though it presents itself as pure "Hammillian" material. You can feel this in "Too Many Of My Yesterdays", perhaps the best moment of the album, where the Englishman's clear voice is accompanied by the indispensable piano (the piano follows the voice, a formula heard in most of the tracks). The lyrics, sublimated by an excellent chorus, express the desire to heal a romantic wound that has caused the narrator much pain. "Other Old Clichés", another highlight of the album, features lyrics where the misunderstanding between the protagonist and, probably, the beloved is spelled out. Here too, the chorus remains memorable, and the piano seems to enter into symbiosis with his tenor voice. "Silver" and "Confidence" are two good episodes where Hammill's well-measured vocal showmanship plays the leading role. "Faith", perhaps the least beautiful, speaks of the necessity of trust in every relationship. "Beside The One You Love" can be defined as an ode treating love as an almost "mystical" experience (by the way, I report the first verse of the song: "You're helpless, entranced by the magical touch of her skin against yours, adrift. What else is there but this? It feels so sweet to fall asleep beside the one you). "Empire of Delight" stands out for the unexpected collaboration between Hammill and Keith Emerson. Both have made history in the so-called "progressive rock", but they are very different musicians: the first is a master in interpreting his ideas, the second is the undisputed monarch of the Hammond Organ and is second to none in technical ability. However, the result is not to be discarded. "And Close As This" concludes with "Sleep Now", a splendid lullaby concerning the father-son relationship. The scenario depicted by the lyrics is moving: a father, who at the cradle's bedside of his baby, as he prepares to sing the classic bedtime song, thinks with concern about the difficulties that the vast world will one day present to his son and fears that he won't be able to protect him (I include the penultimate verse: "Sleep Now, one day I'll tell you how my life has been. Oh, so strange to think your eyes will fall on things that mine have never seen, these eyes that gently flicker in some lost childhood dream"). Undoubtedly a great closure for an album rightly considered his peak among the works released in the '80s. 

Post Scriptum: I tried to review worthily this excellent album by a great mind of English music of the last fifty years. I hope I succeeded. The rating I give to the album is four out of five. I close by saying that it's important to spread the music you know, especially if it has valid content, and that one shouldn't be afraid to try reviews, because review sites (but also those for comparison and discussion), like this one, are an indispensable vehicle for the circulation of music, which in other "channels", perhaps in a short-sighted, ruthless, and stubborn manner, is not disseminated.