Hour: Ghost Bridge

The title of Ghost Bridge, the East-Coast-spanning chamber ensemble Hour’s fifth record, is less metaphorical than one might expect. Bandleader Michael Cormier-O’Leary repurposed it from an unrealised movie concept about a bridge that inexplicably starts disappearing. On the nearly-ten-minute title track of this richly imaginative suite of songs — written for a 13-piece ensemble that includes woodwinds, strings, and vibraphone as well as a rock rhythm section — Hour conjures up this central image with spectral string harmonics and free-time percussion gestures.

While writing the keyboard pieces that became the takeoff point for the album, Cormier-O’Leary also found himself reflecting on the loss of loved ones or even his own mortality. The six kaleidoscopic instrumental pieces on Ghost Bridge, though, feel more cosmically inquisitive than straightforwardly elegiac, sketching a progression from existential doubt toward understanding and acceptance. Ghost Bridge forms a contrast with Hour’s art-rock-informed, more improvisatory early releases, representing a step further into intricate chamber orchestration.

1. So Long Without a World
2. Pearls
3. Centralia
4. Ghost Bridge
5. Sky Is Blue
6. Sonny