The Lateness of the Hour (album)

The Lateness of the Hour
Studio album by Alex Clare
Released	8 July 2011
Recorded	2010
Genre	Soul, alternative rock, dubstep, drum and bass, electronica
Length	46:19
Label	Island Records
Producer	Mike Spencer & Major Lazer
Singles from The Lateness of the Hour
"Up All Night" Released: 9 December 2010 "Too Close" Released: 15 April 2011 "Treading Water" Released: 27 May 2011 "Hummingbird" Released: 14 December 2012 "I Won't Let You Down" Released: 2013

The Lateness of the Hour is the debut studio album from British singer-songwriter Alex Clare. It was released on 8 July 2011. The album peaked at number 17 on the UK Albums Chart, number 8 on the German Albums Chart and number 48 on the US Billboard 200. The album includes the singles "Up All Night", "Too Close" and "Treading Water".

Singles

• "Up All Night" was released as the album's lead single on 9 December 2010.

• "Too Close" was released as the album's second single on 15 April 2011. In March 2012, the track was selected as the soundtrack to Microsoft's advertisement for Internet Explorer 9. The feature saw the track achieve international success, peaking at number four on the UK Singles Chart and number seven on the Billboard Hot 100.

• "Treading Water" was released as the album's third single on 27 May 2011.

• "Hummingbird" was released as the album's fourth single on 14 December 2012.

Reception

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	58/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic (Jon O'Brien)
Drowned in Sound (Robert Leedham)	(4/10)
The Independent (Andy Gill)
Mojo
musicOMH (Ben Hogwood)
Pitchfork (Ian Cohen)	(3.7/10)
Uncut

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."

Track listing

Standard listing
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Up All Night"	Ariel Rechtshaid, Thomas Pentz, Alex Clare, David Taylor	2:43
2.	"Treading Water"	Francis "Eg" White, Clare	3:38
3.	"Relax My Beloved"	Clare, Pentz, Rechtshaid, Taylor	3:31
4.	"Too Close"	Clare, Jim Duguid	4:17
5.	"When Doves Cry"	Prince Rogers Nelson	4:08
6.	"Hummingbird"	Rechtshaid, Pentz, Clare, Taylor, Antony Genn, Martin Slattery	3:50
7.	"Hands Are Clever"	Clare, White	3:16
8.	"Tightrope"	Rechtshaid, Pentz, Clare, Taylor, Genn, Slattery	3:37
9.	"Whispering"	Clare, James Lee Homes, Robert Terry Homes	4:30
10.	"Love You"	Iyiola Babatunde Babalola, Clare, Darren Emilio Lewis	4:39
11.	"Sanctuary"	Clare, Jarrad Rogers, Genn, Slattery	4:00
12.	"I Won't Let You Down"	Clare, Genn, Slattery	4:09

iTunes Deluxe Edition
No.	Title	Length
13.	"Where Is the Heart?"	3:26
14.	"Treading Water" (Unplugged)	3:42
15.	"Up All Night" (Music video)	2:59
16.	"Too Close" (Music video)	4:20
17.	"Too Close" (Unplugged) (Music video)	3:47

AmazonMP3 Deluxe Edition
No.	Title	Length
13.	"Caroline"	5:04
14.	"Too Close (Nadastrom Remix)"	4:28
15.	"Too Close (Distance Remix)"	4:00
16.	"Too Close" (Music video)	4:30

Chart performance

Chart (2012)	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)	16
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)	190
German Albums Chart	8
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)	49
UK Albums Chart	17

Release history

Country	Release date	Format	Label
United Kingdom	8 July 2011	Digital download	Island Records
	11 July 2011	CD
United States	1 May 2012	Digital download
	8 May 2012	CD