Hiding In Plain Sight, the debut from Herin – the guest-packed progressive/post-rock solo venture of Tiles/Discipline guitarist Chris Herin – is out today and streaming everywhere on The Laser’s Edge, with a portion of this album’s proceeds to be donated to Alzheimer’s charities.
Herin teamed up with renowned producer Terry Brown (Rush) and Grammy award-winning mastering engineer Peter Moore (Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell) who give Hiding In Plain Sight a luxurious and dynamic sonic landscape. For the attentive and patient music enthusiast, each listen gradually reveals the album’s cache of nuanced and subtle details. Complementing the reflective and occasionally disquieting lyrics is Hugh Syme’s (Rush) whimsical and engaging imagery, the artwork capturing the album’s sensibilities of time and place for a compelling and enigmatic visual counterpart.
Hiding In Plain Sight is a collection of thoughtful observations and somber meditations while Herin sidestepped through the debris field and collateral damage of the growing Alzheimer’s storm. Eleven watershed moments echo the fragile impermanence of life and encourage the listener to turn inward in sympathetic introspection. Abundant prog filigree adorns the album, and musical adventure abounds as sprawling vocal hooks glide over angular riffs, richly textured instrumentation, and brooding ambient orchestrations.
Lending their exceptional talents to Hiding In Plain Sight is an impressive cast of nearly thirty musicians, including Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame members Peter Frampton and Alex Lifeson (Rush), plus Martin Barre, John O’Hara, and Doane Perry (Jethro Tull), Michael Sadler (Saga), Kim Mitchell (Max Webster), Cody Bowles and Kevin Comeau (Crown Lands), Jeff Kollman and Shane Gaalaas (Cosmosquad), Tim Bowness (No-Man), Colin Edwin (Porcupine Tree), Randy McStine (Steven Wilson), Kevin Chown (Tarja, Chad Smith), Matthew Parmenter (Discipline), Hugh Syme, Johnathan Blake (Kenny Barron), Ben Riley (Mohsen Namjoo), Gary Craig (Bruce Cockburn), David Barrett, Jimmy Keegan (Spock’s Beard), and many more.
A conceptual work recounting Chris Herin’s difficult walk alongside his father’s ten-year struggle with Alzheimer’s disease, Herin's Hiding In Plain Sight combines distinctive prog and art rock influences that alternate from sophisticated orchestral arrangements and polyrhythmic complexity to contrasting cinematic soundscapes and ambitious guitar workouts. The album is a bold and adventurous fusion of musical palettes as the distinguished roster of guest artists propels Herin's songs into inspired and expansive directions.
Listen to Herin's entire Hiding In Plain Sight everywhere including Bandcamp here, and watch the videos for “The Darkest Hour”, “Warning Signs”, and “The Heart Of You” below.
Hiding In Plain Sight is available in a limited digipak CD including an 8-page booklet and digitally at The Laser’s Edge webshop here and Bandcamp – the standard digital here and the 24 bit hi-res here.
Hiding In Plain Sight tracklisting:
"Warning Signs"
"The Darkest Hour"
"Living In The Night"
"The Heart Of You"
"Secret Adversary"
"A Wrinkle In Time"
"Second Ending"
"Safe House (Isolation)"
"Slow To Crumble"
"Wilderness Years"
"White Dandelions"
"The Heart Of You" video:
"Warning Signs" video:
"The Darkest Hour" video:
(Photos by Matthew Parmenter and Hugh Syme)
