Joe Henry Releases Remastered Edition of "Invisible Hour"

Over the course of this year, Joe Henry set out to re-release three of his most acclaimed albums that defined his coming-of-age as a record maker. With today’s release of Invisible Hour, the momentous reissue trilogy now comes to an end.

Released for the first time in 2014, Invisible Hour followed a very busy period for Joe Henry who produced songs for Bonnie Raitt's Grammy-winning 2012 album Slipstream, and albums for the likes of Billy Bragg, Rodney Crowell and Mary Karr, Natalie Duncan, Hugh Laurie and Over the Rhine. In his own body of work, "Invisible Hour" was preceded by Henry’s acclaimed records Blood From Stars (2009) and Reverie (2011).

"After courting the particular chaos that was both Blood From Stars and Reverie, I heard an ask that accompanied the new songs arriving that would ultimately become the album Invisible Hour; and the ask was simply that I allow beauty, wherever it occurred, to remain just that: beautiful. No need to send my voice chasing through a haunted house; no requirement to smear anyone’s lipstick out of hand." Henry reflects.

Working together with recording engineer Ryan Freeland and several other of his closest collaborators, Henry brought the songs to life in his studio at The Garfield House in South Pasadena, California.

"I wanted instead to let the songs stand in the full light of their afternoon; didn’t want to create the impression that any production concept stood between a song and its receiver.”, Henry says about the musical direction of the record. “It was the single direction I offered engineer Ryan Freeland: that he was free and encouraged to let as much of that available light into the picture as possible, obscuring nothing."

As of Friday , the reissue edition of Invisible Hour is available in stores as 180g black double-vinyl in a high-quality gatefold jacket, CD Digipak and for digital download and streaming. It features all album tracks in remastered sound as well as a special selection of bonus material, including alternate versions and demos.

Access Invisible Hour here.  

In addition to Invisible Hour, Henry’s reissue trilogy also includes his 2007 record Civilians and the 2009 album Blood From Stars. All three reissue-albums are available now and pressed on 180g double-vinyl for the very first time. Additionally, they are available as CD Digipak, for streaming and digital download via earMUSIC.