At this time last year, Cautious Clay had just released the orange-lit mini-album The Hours: Morning and was on the verge of rolling out its companion piece, the blue (and bluesy) The Hours: Night. The series continues today with the release of its third installment, The Hours: High Noon—yet another experiment in outsider R&B which this time approaches the genre in grayscale. Walking through each hour of the afternoon from 1 p.m. until 8, the collection closes out the triptych with upbeat yet laidback alt-pop jams to soundtrack a post-work siesta, dinner prep, or smoke break.
Whereas Clay walked us track-by-track (or hour-by-hour) through Morning, for High Noon, he’s sharing a breakdown of some of the biggest influences that helped establish his sound on this final installment in the series—a balancing of its predecessors’ most distinctive traits. Soul icons like Otis Redding and Stevie Wonder land alongside contemporary groundbreaking figures like 1010benja and Innü, with just a bit of chaos in the mix courtesy of punk agitators Amyl & the Sniffers. Noticeably absent is Kadhja Bonet, but maybe that one was just a given.
Check out the full playlist below, and listen to The Hours: High Noon here.
Chanpan, “Endlessly”
I really like their sound—super fresh and interesting.
Jane Child, “Don’t Wanna Fall in Love”
It’s just a classic late-’80s early-’90s bop with incredible melodies.
Otis Redding, “That’s How Strong My Love Is”
The song made me cry the other day. I think it just feels super raw. The lyrics are simple, but go straight to the heart—not doing too much, effortlessly soulful.
Shira Small, “I Want to Lay With You”
Sounds like a song that aged very well, based on what a lot of people are doing in the indie scene, but it’s a ’60s record.
1010benja, “Semiramis’ Dream”
Super interesting production overall, with its structure a blending of PC electronic music, gospel, and hip-hop.
Starship Orchestra, “Yesterday”
Love the production value.
Moustafa Amar, “Habeb Hayaty”
I just love everything about this song—the vocal’s weird repetitive nature, the dynamic percussion.
Innü, “PNKGRDN”
This dude’s voice reminds me of Babyface a little bit. The production is clean, the genre is underunderstood.
Nia Smith, “Stuntin”
The production, writing, and melody are really good—I also really like the drums.
Cortex, “Troupeau Bleu”
This one is just a classic. So beautiful.
Boko Yout, “Boyfriend”
Super fun, great take on a classic song structure.
Peshay, “Switch”
Some very early drum ’n’ bass, which I find to be fascinating and refreshing. He was credited to be one of the founders of the sound.
Amyl & the Sniffers, “Hertz”
The energy and the melody/writing have a heavy contrast. She’s talking about a lot of stuff, but the energy is super dark and heavy.
Stevie Wonder, “Summer Soft”
Self-explanatory.
