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Out of Water
Studio album by Peter Hammill
Released	February 1990
Recorded	January – August 1989
Studio	Sofa Sound, Wiltshire; Terra Incognita, Bath
Genre	Art rock
Length	45:15
Label	Enigma
Producer	Peter Hammill, David Lord
Peter Hammill chronology
In a Foreign Town (1988) Out of Water (1990) Room Temperature (1990)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
The Guardian	(favourable)
Melody Maker	(beautiful)
Sounds	(relevant)

Out of Water is the 17th studio album by Peter Hammill, originally released on Enigma Records in 1990 and subsequently re-released on Hammill's own Fie! label. Hammill himself considers this album to be a turning point from his mid-eighties style.

Two of the performers are credited by the nicknames they were given when they were part of Hammill's K Group in the 1980s: John Ellis (who also painted the picture on the cover) as "Fury" and Nic Potter as "Mozart". The song "A Way Out" is believed to be about the suicide of Hammill's brother.

"Our Oyster" references the 1989 Tiananmen square massacre.

Track listing

All songs written by Peter Hammill.

1. "Evidently Goldfish" – 5:02
2. "Not the Man" – 4:24
3. "No Moon in the Water" – 4:36
4. "Our Oyster" – 5:33
5. "Something about Ysabel's Dance" – 5:32
6. "Green Fingers" – 4:35
7. "On the Surface" – 8:14
8. "A Way Out" – 7:17

Personnel

• Peter Hammill – vocals, guitar, keyboards
• Stuart Gordon – violin on 5
• John Ellis – guitar on 1, 4, and 7
• David Jackson – saxophone on 3 and 6
• Nic Potter – bass on 3 and 6

Technical

• Peter Hammill – recording engineer, mixing (Sofa Sound/Terra Incognita, Bath)
• David Lord – recording engineer, mixing (Crescent Studios, Bath)
• John Ellis – cover drawing

"Thanks to Gail, Norma and Louise; David, Eda and Gaynor; Neil Perry; Coach; Paul Ridout; Hilary, Holly, Beatrice and Phoebe, Mozart, Jackson, SG and Fury."

References

1. "allmusic ((( Out of Water > Overview )))". AllMusic. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
2. The Guardian review
3. Melody Maker review
4. Sounds review

External links

• Peter Hammill's notes on the album

• Peter Hammill albums
• 1990 albums
• Enigma Records albums