Review Summary: I’m just a traveller of time and space
I’ve always had a soft spot for albums which are comfortable in their own skin, content with what they are, not pushing too much for grander aims. Clearly, music can and often should be ambitious, aspiring for heights never before reached, but not every release needs to be so expansive. In the case of British space rock trailblazers Hawkwind, they seem to realize that their moment for innovation has passed. With more than a half-century elapsed in the hourglass since the band’s formation, and about three dozen studio albums released (who’s counting?), it’s understandable that latest creation
Stories from Time and Space finds the group in a reflective mood.
While the album consists of thirteen tracks totaling nearly an hour, it doesn’t feel like a sprawling behemoth. Rather, this is the kind of laid-back and nocturnal affair one might associate with a certain kind of smoky old jazz record. The vibes are thoughtful and dosed heavily with nostalgia and romanticism, the lyrics are simple and built to offer food for twilight reveries rather than providing any inherent poetic depth, the runtime is balanced between lengthy tracks built upon rolling (but generally relaxing) grooves and short spacey interludes. There’s an effortless sense of competence in the tunes which suggests that Hawkwind could do this music thing forever, old age be damned, but it’s the melancholy and sentimentalism of the whole package which really sells it. In short, this is an old-school record in which the entirety is much more impressive than the sum of its (respectable) constituent pieces.
In the handful of days since this record’s release, I’ve found it to be a quite enjoyable listen under any circumstance, but here’s a suggestion - on a relaxed evening, pour yourself a libation of choice, find a comfortable chair, turn off all the lights, and spin this record while watching the darkness deepen outside the windows.
Stories from Time and Space should be a very worthwhile companion for just that setting. It’s a humble but heartfelt effort which manages to tap into a font of cosmic beauty, and a delightful gift brought to you from these aging rockers.
