I’ll never forget where I was when I first discovered The Cranberries’ “Dreams”: as they put the song on repeat all afternoon. I may someday forget where I was when I first heard Living Hour’s kinda dreamy cover version, While it’s far from the heat-stroke shoegaze that first drew me to Sam Sarty’s project, this cover shares its unique deep-exhalation appeal. Oh, and careful—when you google “living hour dreams” it autocorrects to “living your dreams,” which is apparently a song from Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3. This is not that song.
Living Hour’s expansive, gentle and slow indie rock is distinguished by lovelorn melodies, transient polyrhythms, and a dreamy instrument palette that includes heavenly interlocking guitars, casiotone keyboards, and brass. Floating over these warm sparkles of sound are Sam Sarty’s emotive lead vocals, which are intoxicatingly smokey and vulnerable.
Living Hour recorded their early songs with friend and producer Riley Hill in the west end of their hometown, Winnipeg, Canada. Their self-titled debut album was released on cassette in early 2016 on Bloomington’s Tree Machine Records, introducing the band’s cinematic sound and propelling years of DIY touring in Canada, USA, and Europe.
Living Hour’s Softer Faces was released by Brooklyn’s Kanine Records in February 2019 with production by Kurt Feldman (The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, DIIV, Depreciation Guild) and Jarvis Taveniere (Woods, Purple Mountains, Parquet Courts).
The album received acclaim from NPR, Stereogum, Paste, Vice, Bandcamp, AllMusic, The Grey Estates, Gold Flake Paint and more.
“Some of the most heartsick synth-pop since Cocteau Twins.” – Noisey
“Winnipeg rockers Living Hour dream big with grandiose, all-encompassing shoegaze that stretches to the ends of the earth.” -Stereogum
The Fat Angel Sings 