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Ironically, I first listened to 12 Good Hours of Daylight at about a quarter past midnight early one Saturday morning after a long working week. Through the silence that comes at that late hour, broke the first muted acoustic chords of the first track “This Old Town” and the almost whispered, sung-spoken voice of Derek Lind. It matched the mood of the moment perfectly.

Over the next 55 minutes, I was left with the impression of a songwriter who understands the power of the still, small voice. With subtle power, Lind paints pictures of cities, places, people and emotions in lyrical imagery that intertwines with a unique atmospheric folk/blues style  distinctive by his trademark percussive chording and supported by some cool Hammond and Wurlitzer organs, a minimum of drums and quiet electric guitar. 

On track three, “A Bad Song Everyday”  reflecting on a youthful rock’n’roll songwriters enthusiasm  Lind admits that his songs come “at more of a middle-age pace” nowadays. Appropriate, as this is his first new album in eight years (if you don’t count his 2001 best-of / re-mix collection, Salvo), following up the acclaimed Slippery Ground and Stations of the 90’s  Pardon the cliché, but in my opinion, Lind - like a good wine - is getting better with age. 

Day and night (light and shade) are recurring themes on 12 Hours, apparent immediately from the blurry photo of dusk on the cover. Indeed, reflections on the seasons of life, paralleled with hours of the day are apparent in most of the twelve songs (one for each hour of daylight perhaps?), including “Graveyard Shift”, “Love You Even More” and “What We Know”  odes to his wife of twenty two years and his three children. Lind specifically addresses the “setting of the sun” in his father’s life in two songs, particularly the beautiful “What Came Natural” (He whispered with his dying breath / While holding me ‘till breaking / of his love for me and mine.) Such songs make for an album with deep humanity and a very real, earthy spirituality that is alive in relationships.

As in his previous albums, Lind is also up front in addressing religious / political issues. “Hope and Justice” is a chunky, gutsy, swift kick in the butt for Christians who keep their faith inside church walls (You pray justice roll on like a river / It’s surefire bet, you’re gonna get your feet wet.) Also, “Big Trouble (at the Photo Shoot)”  far and away the funkiest track on the CD  seems to heap satire on celebrities who exploit the poor to enhance their own image (It seemed like such a good idea at the time / ‘Babes’ against the backdrop of poverty and grime.) 

While not explicit, God is never far below the surface of the songs on this album. In fact, the glimpses we get of Lind’s spiritual journey make for some of the album’s strongest moments. “Somewhere (Just as I am)”, Lind’s reflection on the birth of his faith at a young age, again draws on the night / day theme as he thinks back to an evangelistic rally he attended as a child. Remembering how the choir and preacher didn’t move him at all, he realizes that, “somewhere, between night and day / In the darkness that just precedes the dawn / The spirit in me was born.” Clearly, Lind’s experience of God is a still water that runs very deep. 

The album’s closer, “Cast the First Shadow,” is especially powerful as it reflects on New Zealand’s accidental “honor” in being the first country in the world to greet the dawn of the new millennium on account of global time zones.)

Who will see the first light? / Who will get the naming rights?
Record it for posterity? / I don’t care, it’s just another day for me. 
But when God appears  / Majestic from the heavens
On the first day of forever / All illusions will be shattered
All crosses vacated / All mysteries unraveled
And when I see his glory / I want to cast the first shadow. 

Brendan Boughen 10/27/2002