"Missing Hours"
"Missing Hours"
Австралийская рок-группа Missing Hours, состоящей из сестры Эммы и родного брата Анта Хьюиттов.
Missing Hours encapsulate so much of what could ever be desirable about a modern band. Firmly grounded by a well-crafted record which carries the listener on a journey from start to finish, siblings Emma and Ant Hewitt have an indescribable charisma and style. This is a partnership grounded on an honest and deep passion for music, and a unique awareness which they have drawn upon to create this album. Whatever you can't see of Missing Hours makes them all the more desirable, and what you can has a lasting impact.
Emma Hewitt fronts the band with a Shirley Manson allure and an attitude that is powerful yet understated. With childhood memories of their father bringing them up on Fleetwood Mac and Pink Floyd, at age 15 Emma had jumped the gap from piano lessons to writing lyrics and singing in bands, whilst about the same time Anthony had a similar experience on guitar, and this momentum brought the pair close together. As Ant recalls, "I'd been playing guitar for maybe two years, and was at that point of becoming bored with playing other peoples' songs and having that feeling you wanted to say or express something. After writing that first song, it all kind of evolved and I just kept writing things. Em was the only person I'd show them to. She'd tell me what she liked and what she didn't like and we ended up really organically collaborating on things together." Emma adds, "I think it was also that you get to that time when you realise you've got something that you really want to say. In a town like Geelong you do have those feelings of just wanting so much to get out or to do something more, and my escape became music."
Coming from a small town like Geelong also influenced Emma and Ant's creative vision. When bands like Soundgarden and Nirvana emerged from Seattle - another port town - their music resonated with Emma and Ant for expressing the same things they were feeling through music. The striking imagery surrounding Missing Hours has also been heavily influenced by southern Victoria and its unique landscape, and the pair's open-armed nature and sense of community have brought together a talented creative team who are now their close friends.
With such a true musical and artistic platform to build from, Missing Hours have delivered an honest and sonically unique album. The first single Machine is a harder, upbeat rock song which channels some great instrumentation and production work underneath Emma's almost haunting vocal. The lyrics carry a strong message too - the facades we build around ourselves as defences will inevitably crumble. The diversity and changes of pace throughout the record - from anthems like Falling Down to intimate moments like So Far Away - make you realise that by the end of the album, you've been hooked from the start. Armed with a stunning debut release, and innate vision and sense of style, Missing Hours are an act that will make their own way to sit among the most esteemed and original in Australian music.