The Lateness of the Hour

The Lateness of the Hour is the second album by the American musician Eric Matthews, released in 1997. "My Morning Parade" was originally included as a 7" single with the vinyl version of the album. The album was part of the ork pop trend of the 1990s. Production The Lateness of the Hour was produced by Tony Lash and Matthews, who also played flugelhorn and harpsichord, among other instruments. Jason Falkner played guitar on the album; Matthews's younger brother Wes also contributed. Three songs, "Gilded Cages", "To Clear the Air", and "Festival Fun", do not include drums, bass, or guitar. Matthews recorded the vocals and acoustic guitars with Manley microphones. Critical reception Salon wrote that "it's ironic that the album's best moments are those when he tears down his Brill Building façade and turns the guitars up a bit, as on 'Everything So Real' and especially 'The Pleasant Kind', the one song where Matthews' melodic sensibility doesn't sound grave-robbed." Entertainment Weekly noted that "this smooth, lovely set of melancholia is never overwhelmed by its ambitions."