Singularity | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | December 2006 | |||
Recorded | January - August 2006 | |||
Genre | Art rock | |||
Label | Fie! | |||
Producer | Peter Hammill | |||
Peter Hammill chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Singularity is the 31st studio album by Peter Hammill, released on his own Fie! Records label in December 2006.
The album was the first Hammill recorded after suffering a heart attack in 2003. Some of the songs ("Our Eyes Give It Shape", "Event Horizon") refer directly to his brush with death. Others address questions of mortality in related ways ("Meanwhile My Mother" is about his mother's decline, "Friday Afternoon" about the untimely death of his piano tuner).
Unlike most recent Hammill albums, Singularity is a completely solo effort, i.e. it was written, played and produced entirely by him. It has been hailed by some as one of his best albums since the 1980s. [2]
The cover was again designed by frequent Hammill collaborator Paul Ridout. Using a photo by Dinu and playing with the term "Singularity" it shows Peter's face on the back cover a second time as a mirror-image.
All songs written by Peter Hammill.
Peter Joseph Andrew Hammill is an English singer-songwriter. He is a founder member of the progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Best known as a singer/songwriter, he also plays guitar and piano and acts as a record producer for his own recordings and occasionally for other artists. In 2012, he was recognised with the Visionary award at the first Progressive Music Awards.
John Ellis is an English guitarist and songwriter.
Skin is the 14th studio album by Peter Hammill, originally released on vinyl on Foundry Records in 1986 and later re-released on CD on Virgin Records. It was also released on CD by DaTE.
Incoherence is the 30th studio album by Peter Hammill, released on his Fie! label in March 2004. Incoherence is a concept album about language, containing 14 tracks with soft transitions between them. The album was produced and played by Hammill himself, with contributions from Stuart Gordon on violin and David Jackson on flute and saxophones. Incoherence is recognized by critics as ambitious and one of Hammill's major works.
And Close As This is the 15th studio album by Peter Hammill, released on Virgin Records in 1986. Each track is a song played and sung by Hammill solo at a keyboard, with the keyboard parts played in a single take. Two of the songs use a grand piano as the keyboard instrument; for the others, Hammill plays a MIDI master keyboard, using it to trigger a variety of MIDI sound modules, mainly electric piano and organ sounds.
Roaring Forties is the 21st studio album by Peter Hammill, released on his own Fie! label in 1994. It, and the following album, X My Heart, are Hammill's most recent albums that primarily contain an organic, full-band rock style. While there are occasional tracks on later albums in this style, Hammill's principal mode has moved since this album towards a more intimate, chamber-music style.
Fireships is the 19th studio album by English singer and songwriter Peter Hammill. Originally released in 1992, it was the first release on Hammill's own Fie! Records label. It was reissued in remastered form in 2006.
In a Foreign Town is the 16th studio album by the English singer-songwriter Peter Hammill. It was originally released in 1988 on Enigma Records, and was subsequently reissued on Hammill's own Fie! label.
The Noise is the 20th studio album by the English singer and songwriter Peter Hammill.
None of the Above is the 26th studio album by Peter Hammill, released on his Fie! label in 2000.
Clutch is the 29th studio album by Peter Hammill, released on his Fie! label in 2002. Clutch contains nine tracks played exclusively on acoustic guitar with accompaniments on saxophones and other instruments. The album was produced and played by Hammill himself, with contributions from Stuart Gordon on violin and David Jackson on flute and saxes. In the liner notes he states that even though the instrumentation is mostly acoustic, it is not a "folk" album. As usual a lot of the songs deal with dark subject matter and his vocals are quite intense in places. The liner notes say "the palette is restricted but the canvas is broad".
X My Heart is the 22nd studio album by Peter Hammill, originally released on Hammill's own Fie! Records in 1996. It is the last of Hammill's albums to date performed in what might be described as a full band style; the later albums have been more solo and intimate in style.
Typical is a live album by Peter Hammill, recorded in 1992 and released in 1999. It is a double CD and was released on Hammill's own Fie! Records label. The album was recorded at nine concerts in Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy.
This is the 25th studio album by Peter Hammill, released on his Fie! label in 1998. There is a large variety in the compositions, ranging from the minimalism of the final song, "The Light Continent", to the rough, almost Nadir-like sound of "Always is Next", the complex "Unrehearsed" and the ballad "Since the Kids". Peter Hammill performed the song "Unrehearsed" live many times. "Nightman" can be heard on the live-album Veracious (2006).
Thin Air is British singer-songwriter Peter Hammill's 32nd solo album, released on his own Fie! Records label in June 2009. It was additionally made available as digital download through Burning Shed Records.
Everyone You Hold is the 24th studio album by Peter Hammill, released in 1997.
Spur of the Moment is an album of experimental music by Peter Hammill and Guy Evans, originally released as cassette tape on the Red Hot label. A remastered version was released on CD on the DaTE label in February 1988. The album is currently out of print.
Consequences is British singer-songwriter Peter Hammill's 33rd solo album, released on his own Fie! Records label in April 2012. As on his previous release, Thin Air, Hammill played all instruments, wrote all the songs and produced the album.
Otherworld is a collaborative album by English singer Peter Hammill and American guitarist Gary Lucas. It was released in February 2014 by Esoteric Recordings.
...All That Might Have Been... is British singer-songwriter Peter Hammill's 34th solo album, released on his own Fie! Records in November 2014. Similarly to 2004's Incoherence, on the standard edition of the album there is only one epic, multi-part song. The special edition box contains two additional discs with bonus material.