Marillion release full details of 'upbeat' new album An Hour Before It’s Dark

(Image credit: Anne-Marie Forker)

Marillion have announced that they will release their new studio album An Hour Before It’s Dark through earMusic on March 4. You can check out the album artwork and tracklisting below.

The album title An Hour Before It's Dark could refer to the last hour you were allowed to play outside as a child before you had to go home, a reference to the fight against time in relation to the climate crisis or the last minutes in a person's life.

"Be it social, political, or personal issues, Marillion have never minced words and have always found a way to combine them with their own unique sound, known for incredible songwriting, melodies and top-notch musicianship, while swimming against the tide, not bending to norms and limitations," say the band's label.

“Despite the seemingly bleak contemplations across this album - the virus, our mortality, medical science, care, and Leonard Cohen (ha ha) - the overall feeling of the music is surprisingly upbeat," adds singer Steve Hogarth. "I think the band are as on form as they ever were really, and the addition of Choir Noir has added another new soul and colour to things."

Like its predecessor, FEAR, An Hour Before It's Dark was recorded at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios, which also provided the perfect backdrop for the carefully chosen selection of behind-the-scenes footage in form of a documentary on the making of the album and a performance of Murder Machines from Real World that will be released together with the album.

Marillion are currently on the road with the Light At The End Of The Tunnel tour in the UK, which will be followed by several Marillion weekends until summer 2022 and a major European tour in autumn 2022.

Pre-order An Hour Before It's Dark.

1. Be Hard On Yourself
   i. The Tear In The Big Picture
   ii. Lust For Luxury
   iii. You Can Learn
2. Reprogram The Gene
   i. Invincible
   ii. Trouble-Free Life
   iii. A Cure For Us?
3. Only A Kiss (Instrumental)
4. Murder Machines
5. The Crow And The Nightingale
6. Sierra Leone
   i. Chance In A Million
   ii. The White Sand
   iii. The Diamond
   iv. The Blue Warm Air
   v. More Than A Treasure
7. Care
   i. Maintenance Drugs
   ii. An Hour Before It’s Dark
   iii. Every Call
   iv. Angels On Earth

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.