Peter Hammill has announced a new album, Tears in Times, his first new work in five years, is it really that long? It feels like Mr Hammill has been rather busy in recent years. Now we could write a whole piece about this, he has had acres of coverage on our pages, both print and online, hours of radio play, both his solo work and radio play for his wonderful band, surely the finest band ever, there can never be enough Van Der Graaf radio play. Now I could write another piece to go with this news, but no, we’ll save it until we get our hands on the new album, for now here’s the details and the full press release, including take on it all direct from the horse’s mouth…
The press release….
“Peter Hammill, the founding member and unmistakable voice of the legendary Van der Graaf Generator, returns with Tears In Time, a superb new album and his first new work in five years. A collection of eleven unique, reflective songs recorded at various locations between 1991 and 2026, the album stands as a deeply personal and compelling new statement from one of Britain’s most singular musical voices.
Across more than five decades, Hammill has built an extraordinary body of work that has continually challenged expectations while remaining emotionally direct, intellectually searching and artistically fearless. First emerging as the driving force behind Van der Graaf Generator, he helped define a more adventurous and uncompromising edge of progressive music, creating a catalogue that remains hugely influential. Alongside that work, he has sustained a remarkable solo career that has seen him explore everything from fierce, experimental rock and intimate piano-led confessionals to electronic abstraction, chamber-like atmospheres and profound, late-period reflection.
That solo journey has been marked by a restless commitment to invention. In 1992, Hammill established his own Fie! label to release and curate his independent work, beginning with the acclaimed Fireships, a more introspective collection that earned widespread praise for songs such as I Will Find You, Curtains and Gaia. A year later he revealed a more rock-oriented side with The Noise, further underlining the breadth and unpredictability of his songwriting. Since then, Hammill has continued to pursue a unique creative path, producing work that is never static, never complacent, and always unmistakably his own.
Tears In Time continues that tradition with quiet authority. Drawing together recordings made over an extended span of years, the album carries a rare sense of depth and perspective, its eleven songs shaped by memory, experience and reflection. Peter says:
“These songs have been a long time in the gestation and making. I’m pleased with the way they’ve worked out. They seem to hang together as a group, even though there’s a wide range of styles represented here. I’ve not stopped yet and I’m very happy that songs still seem to find their way into my hands.”
As ever with Hammill, the music is absorbing and emotionally resonant, full of nuance, atmosphere and the kind of lyrical and musical insight that only an artist of his stature can bring. Rather than looking backwards, Tears In Time feels like a vivid and vital new chapter – a very special work by a truly unique artist”.
Tears in Times
25 September 2026 on CD / Vinyl and Digital – Order details
Track Listing – For A Rainy Day / The Wheels / Heavy Weather / Angle Of The Curve / So Much Water / Tabula Rasa / Oh The End / Red Flags (In The Sunset) / You’ll Never Know / The Half Of It / And When He Ran
Previously on these pages
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THE ORGAN 