If you were to combine the forward-thinking nature of A Saucerful of Secrets with The Kick Inside‘s steely confidence, then Blue Reminder might be the artistic love child. Although Hand Habits is effectively a thinly veiled nom de plume for Meg Duffy, a long-time Kevin Morby collaborator and guitarist extraordinaire, this 2025 record is suffused with instrumentation and ambient textures, making it an exquisite world to slip into. Embedded in the padding comes a striking voice, embracing the mania that surrounds the artist through loud and quiet, good and bad; electric and orchestral.
With “(Forgiveness)”, a solitary piano pings beside a choppy, erratic drum, fusing the worlds of classical and jazz under one instrumental segment. “Beauty 62” is a more groovy exercise, before a jolly, quasi Bob Dylan-esque acoustic guitar enters, bringing a different contrast to the controlled chaos. A wild electric riff plays for the closing ten seconds, fluttering in and out of the mix as Steve Hackett might have done in the mid-1970s.
“More Today” shoots with a rock-heavy opening, modernising Brian Wilson‘s penchant for “Wall of Sound”; an ensemble of barrage and noise firing at the listener. “You’d better bite my tongue,” Duffy sings, a lingering, lustful undertone undulating beneath the lyric.
Which brings the listener to “Wheel of Change”, a taut, spacy composition typified by some truly staggering harmonies. “Every second taken away from me,” Duffy croons, capturing the imagination of two like-minded individuals. The twinkly, dreamlike “Nubble” is another element that will entice listeners, a terrain of pianos cementing the song like a Moby ballad closing out a film (much like he did with “Final Scene Music” at the end of Michael Mann’s outstanding Heat). The ominously titled “Dead Rat” is produced virtually alone, with whispered vocals as the focus of the recording. Duffy performs some of it a cappella, and the results are brilliant.
Changing pace once more, “Way It Goes” utilises tape loops, mixing the tapestry with wooden musical implements. During the instrumental passage, a lone bass plays to the sounds of backward effects. The power ballad is largely about journey, a voyage reflected in the lyrical content; words like “one day learn” and “back to you” deliver on the potency.
With the title track, Hand Habits opts for a waltz signature, pianos pirouetting around the vocal. Just as the listener lulls themselves to the point of nap, a pedal steel guitar arrives, recalling Pete Drake’s melodic work throughout Beaucoup of Blues. The words represent the changes Blue Reminder has undergone: “I feel lighter now, I feel lighter now.”
It’s fitting that this record has come out in August, because the work represents the distinctive changes that occur as one season draws to an end, and another inevitably begins. “Quiet Summer” addresses this emotion head-on, but “Bluebird of Happiness”, a sparkly pop number, furthers the sentiment. Schematically, the tune presents a transformation from one point in life to yet another uncertain juncture. As long as creatures “stay through the winter”, everything should work itself out. Clipped guitars come and go, jumping from one melodic structure to another pleasing one. Indeed, Blue Reminder might be the album the world needs now as summer turns to winter.
As aforementioned, this record holds influences reminiscent of Pink Floyd and Kate Bush, which is most evident on “Living Proof”, a powerful, prescient radio-friendly number lit by glistening cadences. What guitars appear present a backdrop instead of sentiment, offering little details to the painting as opposed to the main subject. The same could be said for the album as a whole: no matter how bombastic or portentous the song in question, the musicians follow the vocalist, supporting the melody rather than squashing it. Gorgeously produced and expertly arranged, Hand Habits has issued a work that should be counted among the year’s most successful offerings.