The Hour of Two Lights


The Hour of Two Lights is a one-off collaborative album between British solo-artist Terry Hall, formerly of the 2 Tone and ska revival band the Specials, and Mushtaq, a member of British-based multi-ethnic hip-hop–ethno-techno–world fusion music group Fun-Da-Mental.

Composition and release

The album was written and produced by the duo, with the exception of "Ten Eleven" which was written with Oujdi and Hall's regular collaborator and label-boss of Honest Jon's, Damon Albarn. Receiving good reviews, the album was released on CD and double-LP by Albarn's Honest Jon's label in Europe and the US in August 2003.
It was Hall's last release of new material, after which he rejoined the Specials as a regular member for live performances, until the release of the Specials' album Encore in 2019.

Critical response

Robin Denselow of The Guardian rated it 4/5 and said of The Hour of Two Lights, "Two of the pioneers of multicultural British pop are back with a daring, thoughtful set..." Ollie Davies of BBC Music said, "It's a political and musical recording of racial minorities and cultures by two of today's pioneers of modern popular music." Sean Westergaard of AllMusic rated One and One Is One 3/5 and thought "Terry Hall took quite a chance on this one, doing something unlike anything in his catalog and pulling it off without a hitch. Well done."
Jeff Brown of CMJ New Music Monthly called it "...a fantastic mélange of East and West, traditional and modernmusic." Uncut rated it 4/5 and called it "...a fantastic record of banging global grooves..." PopMatters of Will Harris thought "The Hour of Two Lights can expand one's musical horizons considerably."

Personnel

  • Terry Hall – vocals, banjo, jaw-harp
  • Mushtaq – darabuka, drums, keyboards, percussion
;Additional musicians
  • Damon Albarn – voice, melodica
  • Louai Alhenawi – ney
  • Abdul Latif Assaly – voice
  • Nathalie Barghach – voice
  • Sammy Bishai – violin
  • Calum Cook – cello
  • James Dring – recorder
  • A.K.Durvesh – shehnai
  • Numan Elyer – percussion
  • Eva Katzler – voice
  • Matthew Kent – scratch deejaying
  • Hajaj Kenway – percussion
  • Eddie Mordue – clarinet
  • Oujdi – rap
  • Herinderpal Panesar – dhol
  • Romany Rad – accordion, bass, guitar, voice
  • Zoe Rahman – piano
  • Mazin Abu Sayf – oud, accordion
;Technical
  • Terry Hall – producer, mixing
  • Mushtaq – producer, mixing
  • Tom Girling – engineer, mixing
  • James Dring – assistant engineer
  • Will Bankhead – photography, design
  • John Ainley – drawing
  • Elizabeth Cook – drawing
  • Len Wheeler – drawing