Philadelphia's Hour eases the work — and hearts — with its rich instrumental music

True devotion characterizes the work of Philadelphia collective Hour, whose instrumental compositions arrive like folk paintings: radiant and detail-rich, with open canvas enough for listeners to project themselves into the frame. There, moving about the colors, the shapes, the lines, we observe and appreciate relationships.

"Ease the Work," the band's latest, hits the atmosphere April 12, but Hour will be in Columbia exactly one month ahead of its release, performing at Cafe Berlin.

Building from the vision of principal Michael Cormier-O’Leary, this iteration of Hour gathered nine musicians in Peaks Island, Maine last year to record "Ease the Work" in a living, resounding room.

Cormier-O'Leary's aesthetic "reaches for the sweeping gestures and inspired pacing of classic film scores, Frank Sinatra ballads, and Scott Walker’s pop orchestra," according to Hour's Bandcamp page, and this record keeps folding in those moving parts — and so many others — in tender, thoughtful fashion.

"Island Time" sounds the call to convene, piano and guitar engaging in gentle dance to a steady, almost metronome-like pulse. A string section answers and reframes their every movement, the instruments collaborating to stretch each note, each moment as long as it can bear.

The title track knows the same spooling and unspooling motion, then expands the Hour sound with descending lines befitting a jazz orchestra and passages of true, noisy squalling. Tracks like "A Good Beanpot" evoke modern folk dances while cuts like "Dying of Laughter" and "Hallmark" cast the band as late-coming descendants to the likes of Nick Drake.

Gems abide in the tracklist's final third. Jazz-kissed drums open "The Most Gorgeous Day in History," which churns along, creating unity from wondrous, thrifted parts before delivering on its promises with a Technicolor moment in which high, middle and low tones all simultaneously sound most themselves.

Introspective piano brings definition to "Mom Calls and You Answer," orders any potential chaos with a sort of exquisite wisdom. And closer "Kelly's House" comes in like a blues, goes out like the long-lost movement of a favorite symphony.

Whether previewing "Ease the Work" or pulling from other records, in Hour Columbia audiences will hear a project marked by rare affection — for each collaborator, for the listener, for the nature of sound itself. This quality both fulfills their new album's title and brings listeners along for every manifold, painterly detail.

Hour plays Cafe Berlin at 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 12 alongside The Moody Pinks and Tri-County Liquidators. Tickets are $10. Visit https://www.facebook.com/cafeberlincomo to check out the event page.

Aarik Danielsen is the features and culture editor for the Tribune. Contact him at adanielsen@columbiatribune.com or by calling 573-815-1731. He's on Twitter/X @aarikdanielsen.