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Reviews

Hats Off Gentlemen It's Adequate — Parallel Lives
(Bandcamp no#, 2026, CD / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2026-10-01

Parallel Lives Cover art

With their ninth album, the London band Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate continue their streak of winning progressive rock releases. Parallel Lives is certainly recognizable as a Hats Off album, but it does add new wrinkles to the established sound. As on the previous several albums, the band proper consists of Malcolm Galloway and Mark Gatland, with former member Kathryn Thomas contributing flutes on a couple of tracks — Galloway handles guitars, keyboards, programming, and vocals, while Gatland plays bass, Stick, extra guitar, and keyboards. Thinking back on the last few albums, it seems like with each new one, I’ve said this band keeps getting better, and that’s the case here as well. The vocals continue to get stronger, both in the cases of the nearly-spoken parts and the more melodic singing parts. Parallel Lives is not a concept album, though the trend of lyrics inspired by science fiction novels continues, with references to Phillip K Dick and Alastair Reynolds. There are also touches of Galloway’s solo work in minimalist styles. While the music is never especially difficult or challenging to listen to in the sense of being harsh or dissonant, it’s also not predictable or mainstream. It’s just finely crafted music backed by intelligence and real human thoughts and feelings, and it’s a welcome addition to this band’s already impressive discography.

Filed under: New releases, 2026 releases

Related artist(s): Hats Off Gentlemen It's Adequate, Malcolm Galloway

More info
http://hatsoffgentlemen.bandcamp.com/album/parallel-lives

 

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