8:58 (aka Phil Hartnoll of Orbital) - 8:58 (Vinyl)

8:58 is the debut album of Orbital's Paul Hartnoll's 8:58 project, released in 2015.

According to Hartnoll, the album is a continuation of his work with Orbital. The album features contributions from actor Cillian Murphy, folk band The Unthanks, singer-songwriter Ed Harcourt, Lisa Knapp, Robert Smith, Lianne Hall and Fable.

Hartnoll has claimed to be always interested in the concept and ideas of 'time', and his new solo project (essentially Orbital but without his brother Phil) is based on a doodle he first drew as a teenager, a clock face with the time frozen at 8:58. "8:58 am is that moment when you've got to make up your mind," he says about the day ahead. 

Rewarding several listens, there is a lot going on - thoughtful melodies, textures, sounds and effects constructed with mechanical precision, but with a fluidity that transforms the digitalised soundscape into an organic and warm record. It's a difficult trick to pull off, but Hartnoll's liberal use of vocals, electronicalised real instrumentation, and field sound recordings have helped to transform 8.58 into something magical, and yet human, with the underlying theme a wake up call to shrug off a possible dystopian future.

2 x LP, Gatefold

Tracklist:
01.    "8:58" (featuring Cillian Murphy)    6:04
02.    "Please" (featuring Robert Smith & Lianne Hall)    6:34
03.    "The Past Now" (featuring Lisa Knapp)    6:36
04.    "Villain" (featuring Ed Harcourt)    3:50
05.    "The Clock" (featuring Cillian Murphy)    3:09
06.    "A Forest" (featuring The Unthanks)    5:42
07.    "Broken Up"    4:20
08.    "Nearly There"    5:01
09.    "Cemetery" (featuring Fable)    7:37