96. Single Review of Between Two Worlds by Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate
Originally published on March 3rd, 2015
About the Artist
Before getting into this article’s artist, I just want to say how excited I am to get back to new submission music with Fifteen Minutes of Fame. I loved last month and I know I will be doing something like that again in the future, but the interactions with the artists, getting to potentially hear something that hasn’t been introduced to the world and having the privilege to tell our readers about something upcoming is so special.
Second, I want to say how thrilled I am to be presenting our first submitted artist from the social media platform, Bluesky. Our reach on that platform is not the biggest yet, so to be getting submissions there already is really exciting. Perhaps, doing reviews like this will help us grow there and potentially reach more artists.
Every artist we’ve featured is completely unique. There are always artists that will have a sound that reminds me of somebody else, or artists who inspire another artist’s sound. But when the artist puts their music out, it is authentically, uniquely them. That being said, when I hear a song by an artist, I typically feel pretty confident that I know the music I’m getting into. I also say with confidence that, up to this point, that’s always been the case. Maybe hearing Kid A for the first time is the only exception.
I can happily say that I now have another example. It is my distinguished honor to introduce Hats Off Gentlemen It's Adequate. They are an eclectic, 3- piece prog rock band out of London England. Comprised of Malcolm Galloway, Mark Gatland, and Kathryn Thomas, they have been making music together for more than a decade. They have been featured by Prog Magazine as a Limelight featured band. They are also winners of Beastie’s Rock Show Album of the Year and are winners of Bandwagon Network Radio Song of the Year.
Hats Off Gentlement It’s Adequate debuted in 2012 with their firat full-length album, Invisible. Consisting of 10 songs at 44 minutes, Invisible would feature one single, Wait for the Storm, an acoustic-driven ballad that has a feel of anticipation just like the song’s title.
It also features the surprise I wasn’t expecting: Kathryn Thomas is the band’s flutist. That’s right. Flutist. Flute is the instrument I never knew was missing in progressive rock but, now having heard it, I can only hope it becomes a trend. Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate have shown how it can be more than fitting.
Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate would release a 5- song EP, Frail Hurricane EP later in 2012, but it would be 3 years until the release of their follow up to Invisible. On October 15th, 2015, it would come. When the Kill Code Fails Would be their second album. At 13 songs and 56 minutes, it would feature new original work, as well as songs previously released on their 2014 EP’s, Head in a Jar-EP and Solace.
In 2017, Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate released their 3rd LP. Broken But Still Standing released on August 29th, 2017. Their longest album yet, it contains 17 tracks and plays for seventy minutes. It also has one of the coolest opening tracks I’ve ever heard in Vent. Vent is purely instrumental, featuring an ambient solo by Thomas over synths holding this dark, ethereal position to accompany her beautiful playing. Vent perfectly segues into Almost Familiar, which introduces the rest of the band.
With their quickest turnaround since debuting, Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate wasted no time in releasing album number four. Out of Mind, a 12-song, 65 minute LP, released on November 30th, 2018, just one year after Broken But Still Standing. It would feature two released singles; Stand Up and When I Was a Ship. When I Was a Ship was a particularly interesting single because it seems to be here where piano ballads were introduced into the diverse sound of an ever-increasing dynamic presented by the band.
Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate released Nostalgia for Infinity, their fifth LP, on May 6th, 2020. This 12-song EP has a run time of just under 70 minutes and features one single, the title track, as well as songs from two EPs released prior to the LP; 2019’s EP, Ark and 2020’s EP, Feeling Great.
2022 would bring the release of the 6th full-length album by Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate. July 29th, 2022, The Confidence Trick released, featuring 13 songs with a run time just under 70 minutes. It would feature just one single, Burn the World that eould release one month prior to The Confidence Trick. Burn the World is a beautiful track, featuring guitars that seem to concentrate on the importance of every note they play and the song heavily relies on an expertly played bass part that moves freely throughout the track while holding down its responsibility as the driving force to the song’s progression.
The most recent album by Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate is The Light of Ancient Mistakes. Marking their 7th album, The Light of Ancient Mistakes released on September 8th, 2023. At 15 songs, it has a run time of 67 minutes. It features one single that released a month prior, the punk rock-infused iamtiredandeverythinghurts. Then, in 2024, they would release the single One Word That Means the World, which would feature two tracks, including the song Music for Dancing. In June of 2024, they would release another single, Copenhagen, which would also feature two songs; the title and Safe When Handled as Directed.
Entering 2025, Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate have begun releasing music for their 8th album, which will be titled Between Two Worlds. The upcoming album has already released three singles; a live version of imtiredandeverythinghurts, Helgoland, and the album’s title track, which will be the work examined for the remainder of this article.
About the Song
Between Two Worlds is the third single released for the upcoming 8th album by the same name of English rock band, Hats Off Gentlement It’s Adequate. It released on January 29th, 2025. At over 4 minutes, it is a piano ballad featuring vocalist Malcolm Galloway.
About the Music
Between Two Worlds is an emotionally powerful ballad, derived from an amphibious piano part that balances between arpeggiated performance and structured chords. With the same significant power behind each keystroke as songs like Colorblind or Gary Jules' cover of Mad World, Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate demonstrate how powerful a piano ballad can be.
It almost sounds as if the pianist is “pulling their punches” with each stroke of the keys. It almost sounds as if holding back their emotions is in itself a form of torture, as the complexities of their emotions are constantly on the verge of getting the best of them.
Completely in uniform, Malcolm Galloway’s vocal performance is presented in the same energy. Every line seems to want to come out as a scream but they only seem to manage to pull a whisper.
About the Lyrics
Even before examining the lyrics, we know the emotional context to be a profound one by the musical content. As typically is the case, the emotional value of lyrical content is amplified by the music that performs it. In this instance, we have the exact same outcome from the opposite perspective. The lyrics have amplified the emotional context of the song.
Between Two Worlds examines a particular moment. It’s the moment right before a choice is made that we all face. The moment before a path is set, how we try to determine the outcome of those choices.
Between Two Worlds examines this as past decisions made, decisions to be made, decisions that could have been made, and choices that will eventually be faced. It’s as if Schrödinger’s cat were a song instead of a thought experiment.
There are some very eloquent and profound moments within the lyrics of this song. Like “the observation that crashes the wave that forces me into the path that it made.” I think that might be one of the most perfect explanations I’ve ever heard. Furthermore, this is one of the best lyrically written songs I’ve ever heard.
Final Thoughts
Really, I have just one. Why haven’t I heard of this band? Why haven’t I heard a Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate song played on mainstream radio? Or read about them in Rolling Stone? Why haven’t I seen them walk across a red carpet wearing a ridiculously expensive ensemble, including sunglasses INSIDE at NIGHT?
This band isn’t trying to figure it out. They’re not learning to play their instruments or produce a record. They’re not beginning the journey of their dream of becoming a recording artist. These are seasoned musicians with a clear vision of the sound they want to be producing.
It’s not just any band can regularly feature a flutist. It might work for a song for less experienced artists. However, the application of experienced and talented musicianship serves as a necessary and successful framework to allow such an exclusive dynamic here. If one were to need any convincing on the type of musicianship they were dealing with, I would simply reference Helgoland once again. The song starts off pretty standard, with a semi-basic guitar solo. Then, at the 49 second mark, they blow any simplicity that might have existed out of the water? I mean, what in the mixolydian to the dorian did we just hear? I listened to this song 8 times before I realized it was an instrumental and I love Malcolm Gslloway’s voice!
Look, Fifteen Minutes of Fame exist because we want to change the narrative at how music reviews are presented to artists. We believe, and it is our mission to prove, that EVERY artist has something to say, both independent and mainstream alike. THAT BEING SAID….
Right now there are musicians on Spotify who have a million people listening to them a month. A million. The brutal honesty is I do sometimes struggle to understand the appeal to some of mainstream music’s biggest artists. I hear the talent. I hear the production value. I don’t hear the difference. To hear this band and to see they receive a tenth of a percent of that, I will never understand.
I’ve forgotten 100 bands in 30 years of being an avid listener of music. I’ll never forget the moment I was introduced to this band. With no intention of being adequate, and only that of the utmost respect, my hat goes off to you, Gentlemen (and Lady). This band is extraordinary. They’ve earned a fan for life.
If you’re reading this article and you have any interest in being absolutely blown away as I have been, you can follow and here the entire collection of Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate on Spotify.
For lyric videos, live clips, and more you can subscribe to Malcom’s YouTube Channel.
You can also follow their TikTok profile for more video content.
Betwern Two Worlds is streaming everywhere as of January 29th, 2025. It appears they will be releasing an album to go with the three tracks currently available so make sure to follow to receive updates on when new music is released!
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