Time: 42:03
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2019
Styles: Rock
Art: Front
1. Absolute Zero [3:11]
2. Fractals [2:33]
3. Cast Off [5:16]
4. Meds [6:35]
5. Never in This House [3:33]
6. Voyager One [3:39]
7. Echolocation [4:19]
8. The Blinding Light of Dreams [4:14]
9. White Noise [3:27]
10. Take You There (Misty) [5:11]
Jazz fusion, chamber pop, modern classical—if your awareness of Hornsby stops at the lite-FM radio dial, prepare to be disoriented.
Sometime in the last decade, Bruce Hornsby nearly became hip. Give the credit (or blame) to Justin Vernon: After the man behind Bon Iver cited Hornsby as a formative influence, the pianist wound up playing the Eaux Claires Music & Arts Festival in 2016, mingling with The National, Phosphorescent, Jenny Lewis, and Will Oldham. Today, you can hear Hornsby’s influence in the work of wildly popular rock bands like The War on Drugs. For anyone who only associated the pianist with ‘80s heartland rock hits like “The Way It Is,” “Mandolin Rain,” and “The Valley Road,” his indie-rock renaissance might have seemed a little surreal.
Truth be told, Hornsby abandoned Adult Contemporary Rock almost the minute he hit the charts. In 1990—the last year he was a presence on Album Rock radio—he replaced the deceased Brent Mydland in the Grateful Dead, revealing both his jam-band roots and his extensive classically trained chops. Those elements won over a dedicated audience that sustained Hornsby through fallow years, allowing him to experiment with everything from bluegrass to jazz, usually with the support of his band the Noisemakers.
Although a few members of the Noisemakers play on this record, Absolute Zero is officially his first solo album since Spirit Trail, released way back in 1998. Hornsby seizes the opportunity for reinvention, packing Absolute Zero with everything from chamber pop to jazz fusion and modern classical. All of his myriad musical interests are explored here, usually with the assistance of collaborators. Vernon co-writes “Cast-Off”; Jerry Garcia’s old lyricist Robert Hunter pens lyrics for “Take You There (Misty).” Fusion legend Jack DeJohnette lends some asymmetrical rhythms to several tracks. The result is destined to confound anyone whose awareness of Hornsby stops at the lite-FM radio dial.
Sometime in the last decade, Bruce Hornsby nearly became hip. Give the credit (or blame) to Justin Vernon: After the man behind Bon Iver cited Hornsby as a formative influence, the pianist wound up playing the Eaux Claires Music & Arts Festival in 2016, mingling with The National, Phosphorescent, Jenny Lewis, and Will Oldham. Today, you can hear Hornsby’s influence in the work of wildly popular rock bands like The War on Drugs. For anyone who only associated the pianist with ‘80s heartland rock hits like “The Way It Is,” “Mandolin Rain,” and “The Valley Road,” his indie-rock renaissance might have seemed a little surreal.
Truth be told, Hornsby abandoned Adult Contemporary Rock almost the minute he hit the charts. In 1990—the last year he was a presence on Album Rock radio—he replaced the deceased Brent Mydland in the Grateful Dead, revealing both his jam-band roots and his extensive classically trained chops. Those elements won over a dedicated audience that sustained Hornsby through fallow years, allowing him to experiment with everything from bluegrass to jazz, usually with the support of his band the Noisemakers.
Although a few members of the Noisemakers play on this record, Absolute Zero is officially his first solo album since Spirit Trail, released way back in 1998. Hornsby seizes the opportunity for reinvention, packing Absolute Zero with everything from chamber pop to jazz fusion and modern classical. All of his myriad musical interests are explored here, usually with the assistance of collaborators. Vernon co-writes “Cast-Off”; Jerry Garcia’s old lyricist Robert Hunter pens lyrics for “Take You There (Misty).” Fusion legend Jack DeJohnette lends some asymmetrical rhythms to several tracks. The result is destined to confound anyone whose awareness of Hornsby stops at the lite-FM radio dial.
Absolute Zero