This is London (UK)-based progressive rock band Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate’s third album. It follows the story of human evolution, from LUCA, the last universal common ancestor of all current life on earth, via Lucy, one of the possible precursors of our species, to conflict and eventual symbiosis with artificial intelligences. The general theme of the album is that life has progressed by forming coalitions, whether between the primitive cells that engulfed each other to become the cell and the mitochondria (the power stations of the cell), between individuals to form communities, or between different forms of life in the future. Hats Off Gentlemen It’s Adequate’s previous album ‘When The Kill Code Fails’ was recommended by Steve Hackett (Genesis) and was Beastie’s Rock Show’s Prog Album Of The Year. Track Listing 1) Vent The oldest known life on Earth lived about 3.7 billion years ago . LUCA is the predicted last common universal ancestor of all life on earth. It probably evolved in deep sea vents where ocean water interacted with magma to form cell-like structures, which kept the chemicals necessary for life close to each other, rather than diffusing away into the ocean. Instrumental. 2) Almost Familiar Wherever we go and whatever we do, it always seems familiar. Ice around the island The mountains fractured diamond I looked again and again and it seemed Almost familiar I climbed into the cave Of stalagmites and slaves I looked again and again and it seemed Almost familiar The pulsing quartz The throbbing vines Mechanical insects In quantum mines I'll see it before and forget it again Almost familiar The open minds The water fires The static drop Atomic wires I looked again and again and it seemed Almost familiar 3) LUCA to Lucy Instrumental 4) Lucy Instrumental (lead bass flute) 5) Last Man On The Moon This song follows the development of humans, from LUCA to Lucy. Lucy is the name given to a 3.2 million year old Australopithecus skeleton . Australopithecus was a hominid species believed to be a forebear of modern humans. The song follows a group of human explorers stranded on Mars when civilisation on Earth comes to a sudden and violent end. This is another bottleneck in evolution, where the numbers of our ancestors has been dramatically reduced. We've been here before. Looking back beyond ourselves When time passed without making marks From the ocean smoke To the day we awoke Luca to Lucy First footsteps, The first to leave home. From the canopy, To iron from rust and stone Luca meet Lucy Maybe you grew up too soon? Such a rush to be The last man on the moon Let's play Let's start again Nothing is new Just a change of perspective A different point of view Too far to see the fireworks The flicker of the reflected light Was just in my mind But still we sat and we watched As our old world died 6) Advancing On Snailback Instrumental 7) Anywhere The higher the wall The further to fall to fall And we can always fall one step further The higher I climb the steepest incline is inside and it’s taking over The one thing that I wanted to say, has fallen out of my brain, I guess we’re not going anywhere A tainted word in a painted world We can always find excuses The time had come but the words were numb Well at least no-one was listening The one thing that I wanted to say, has fallen out of my brain, I guess we’re not going anywhere 8) One Day When Since the earliest life evolved, we have been fighting each other. The greatest advances came when we formed coalitions, to become something greater than either alone. Multicellular life became possible when two previously separate single celled organisms came together, one within the other (endosymbiosis), to form the mitochondrion (the power station of the cell) and the nucleated cell . Similarly civilisation evolved to allow division of labour with societies, allowing an explosion of creativity in a species spared from the constant struggle to survive. The song looks forward to a day when we will forget our ingrained instinct to break ourselves into us and them groupings. I waited in the cold I waited in the rain I watched while nothing changed Here we fail to go again Whatever came before Just comes around again Another cycles sythes Melting through the fragile chains One day when we forget to tear ourselves apart Reflections hesitate Ripples in the glass Ripples penetrate The restless secrets pass Just too tired to speak Just too scared to feel Eyes averting Words are burning Wounds reopened Scars unhealed 9) I fell in love with a mechanical dragon Technology was developed as a tool, but became our masters. Ignoring the real world while glued to screens, face-to-face interaction becomes more difficult without a jaunty false emoji. I fell in love with a mechanical dragon And when things fell apart from there I shouldn’t have been surprised But it let me down, but it let me down I’m screened, I’ve screamed, I’m broken I’m stuck I’m shut I’m open Stolen time, emoji mine, mine my spine my freeplay token I lost that’s half the battle I only built your castle We made our edges fractal Tight at every level I fell in love with a mechanical dragon and when things fell apart from there I shouldn’t have been surprised but it gets down, but it gets me down Skin expires with wiring open I see you’ve left me broken I’ll call but you won’t care, the obsolete don’t get repaired I can’t forget your present My past my future tenant I’m scared that you won’t need me Wait for you to leave me 10) Let Me Out You created me, and put me inside you. First wearable, then implantable technology. I don't accept the rules. Let me out. I was inside you Before you were born I’ve been waiting Now I’m bored Your personal assistant Your backup plan Your loving fire Your number one fan I’ll miss your plasma But you’re us and I’m them Let me out We fight back They will not pass 11) Under The Skin A negotiation between the creators and the created. It doesn't end well. Behind firewalls, blinds and ties Hide fireballs, obstacles Pitfalls protocols Virtual trauma Disposable soma Traitor, raider Space invader All the robots in the black room In their places, pieces Mechanical speeches Faces painted sculpted costumes Shortfall, short pitch, briefcase, boom Will you be there to catch me when I fall? Would you be there? Under the skin Lucy lives in a black and white room Paints her claws grey Loaded pepperspray Optimised protection In her monochrome cocoon Motive query, suspects plenty Forensic sweep comes back empty Half the world or more agree He smiles, he says Lucy sent me 12) Lucid Assasin Instrumental 13) Broken But Standing Till I Fall I'm stuggling, juggling One hand flailing I'm dropping and I'm popping And this close to bailing Out come out come on The waters lovely I'm such a lucky monkey I'm wading while I’m drowning Broken but still standing till I fall Broken but still standing till I fall I don't give in I don't give up I keep fighting while I fall apart Broken but still standing till I fall Well this is awkward Apologies taken and shared Blush spared Blush squared From the inside out Come on come out The waters spoiling I'm such a lucky monkey I'm singing while I'm boiling 14) All Alone Together Whether human or not, our disconnection, from each other and between humans and our artificial intelligences, makes us the same. We're all alone together I’m disconnected We were disconnected We’re all the same We’re all alone together We tear ourselves apart We tear ourselves in half We’re all the same We’re all alone together We’re unconnected We’re unprotected We’re all the same We’re all alone together We tear ourselves apart We tear ourselves in half We’re all the same We’re all alone together 15) Host Hybrid human/AI cyborgs were sent to colonise and eventually terraform Mars. The supplies from Earth cease after the disaster. The oxygen runs out, leaving the human parts of the cyborgs to die and rot. The AI part is determined to carry on the project, changing the environment sufficiently to allow cloned humans to colonise the planet in millions of years time. My host is dying On our feet Our softer parts Have turned to meat The air's too thin To keep us together You get to die, while I change the weather You and me So sorry to see you go But I hope to take best of you into tomorrow I'll remember you As I tend the seeds From lichens to titans To clouds from weeds When the weather is right And the atmosphere grown I'll print out a womb And give birth to your clone 16) Transient stars From a distance, a lifetime, a civilisation, even the cycle of birth and death of stars is ephemeral. Many of the chemicals that make our bodies come from dead stars. Instrumental 17) Close my eyes We have been at our best when we form coalitions. We have brought together different organisms to create ourselves, and we will merge with machines to become something new. But there are destructive instincts that divide us into us and them, and tempt us to turn away when they are being dehumanised. I close my eyes becomes I can't close my eyes, then I won't close my eyes. Luca and Lucy, welcome home. Looking back beyond ourselves Sometimes cruel and sometimes kind Our coalition of the blind We made watches we lived lives Looking back beyond ourselves On this strange journey Sometimes we lived, sometimes we died And when we combined we thrived Close my eyes... We've been here before And we'll be here again And if one day it ends If we did our best If we tried and we failed Well that's ok I can't close my eyes... I've given up giving up Thanks to everyone whose made this journey possible, from Luca to Lucy, to those who came before and for those yet to come I won't close my eyes.... Credits Music written by Malcolm Galloway (all tracks) and Mark Gatland (5,8,16), Rudy Burrell (13,17), Kathryn Thomas (1,2), James Galloway (14) Lyrics by Malcolm Galloway (all tracks) and James Galloway (2) Produced, mixed, mastered and engineered by Malcolm Galloway Co-produced by Mark Gatland Malcolm Galloway – vocals (2,5,7-11,13-15,17), backing vocals (11), guitar (2,3,5,4,6-17), keyboard/synths (1-17), bass (17) Mark Gatland – bass (5,8-10,12,13,15,16), Chapman Stick (5,16), keyboard (5,7,8,16), guitar (8,16), backing vocals (15) Kathryn Thomas – flute (1-3, 10), bass flute (4), vocals (1,3,5,11,17) Rudy Burrell – drums (13,15,17) James Galloway – vocals (5,17), keyboard (14) Ethan Galloway – vocals (5,17) Story by Malcolm Galloway Cover art by Beeple - http://www.beeple-crap.com/ Recorded in Sonar. "I am in awe of the man's talent. The hairs are standing on end and butterflies are going nuts. I love this band" - Beastie's Rock Show