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Reviews

Malcolm Galloway — Stare
(Bandcamp no#, 2026, DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2026-10-09

Stare Cover art

Malcolm Galloway has a full plate — not only does he compose and produce work as a solo artist, he is also one of the main composers, singers, and multi-instrumentalust for his prog band Hats Off Gentlemen, It’s Adequate, who have a new album Parallel Lives that was released concurrently with this solo release Stare. Much of the work here centers around sequenced electronic keyboard based pieces; only two, “Ostinato for Electric Guitar and Laptop” and “A Lacquered Ceramic Owl,” cross over into the rock / funk realm somewhat due to their employment of bass, drums, and guitars. The centerpiece of Stare is the opening track, a sprawling 33-minute-and-change epic titled “Under Countless Stars,” a piece built on piano and other keyboard sounds that slowly morphs as it proceeds along its extensive path. The seemingly impossibly fast sequences are quite hypnotic as it meanders through numerous extensive yet subtle structural changes, morphing slowly but deliberately, sometimes picking up symphonic characteristics, working with them for a period of time, and then letting them go. The impatient listener may find this to be too tedious and repetitive, but if one can find a moment to relax and just go with the flow, it can be quite rewarding — what’s the hurry anyway? Eventually the piece fades away and is replaced by another, shorter piece titled “Natrolite” — and by shorter I mean twelve minutes. It is a busy synth-based orchestral piece with occasional flashes of dissonance and chaos, but held together well with a powerful structure and regular wholesale changes as it progresses. Need something even shorter? The three-minute “Scherzo No.1” is an outstanding orchestral classical composition that does a lot during its brief timeline, with plenty of excitement and changes on the go. The seventeen-minute “Ice Fossils” takes a slower pace, introducing itself over the course of several minutes, gently opening doors with synths and piano punctuation, revealing itself slowly, another beautiful classical based piece like no other. Following that  we have the two aforementioned rock and funk pieces, reaching out to other idioms. There are a couple bonus tracks as well, an alternate “Ostinato for Electric Guitar and Laptop,” but without the solo guitar, and “Flugle Doodle,” barely a minute in length that is full-on orchestral, sounding a bit like movie soundtrack material. A solid album that should provide an excellent introduction to Galloway’s work.

Filed under: New releases, 2026 releases

Related artist(s): Malcolm Galloway

More info
http://malcolmgalloway.bandcamp.com/album/stare

 

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