| Gathering Mercury | |
|---|---|
| Studio album by Colin Hay | |
| Released | May 9, 2011 |
| Recorded | The Washroom, Topanga, California; Lookout Sound, Los Angeles, California |
| Length | 39:04 |
| Label | Compass Records |
| Producer | Colin Hay |
Gathering Mercury is the eleventh studio album album by Colin Hay, released on May 9, 2011 on Compass Records.[1] Regarding the album's thematic content, Hay stated, "I think it’s about life and loss and the injustice of the way the universe is set up; how we lose people we love."[2]
Contents |
The album is partly inspired by the passing of Hay's father in 2010. Upon the album's release, Hay noted, "The loss of my father last year brought an unavoidable emotional contingent to writing and recording. I don’t have a definitive belief in an afterlife, but I do feel like I had his help when I was working on this album, especially alone late at night, in the studio. [...] The night my father died, I was in Glasgow on the River Clyde, about twenty streets away from where he was born. There’s some kind of bleak poetry in that, very bleak."[3]
Gathering Mercury was recorded at Hay's home studio, The Washroom.
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| The Daily Telegraph | (favorable)[4] |
| Chicago Sun-times | (mixed)[5] |
| Allmusic | (favorable)[6] |