The title of this the second track started out as ‘The sweet sadness of time’, as it seemed, like the the first track, to have something nostalgic about it, but this time rather more introspective. However, I found myself constantly shortening the title and so ended up with just the one word.
Starting with a quite funky and very live sounding drum loop and with an atmospheric string line setting the minor mood, a very simple piano melody line arrives with three strummed minor chords on the classical guitar repeated over a four bar sequence. Having a lot of sonic room gives the guitar a lute-like clarity. Then the electric bass adds another element, followed immediately by another classical guitar, this time playing a simple response to the piano line in octaves, falling at the end of each two bars. The piano melody then gives way to a third classical guitar playing a new more staccato melody in thirds, with the piano slipping back in sympathetically and leading into the first breakdown. Here George Butrumlis on accordian adds his inimitable touch. This section leads into a more cheerful major key, with the original piano melody now played on the synth strings, and some lively vamping by Steve Hadley on bass. The second breakdown reverts to the minor mode, and here Diana Clark beautifully improvises some atmospheric, perhaps you could even say elegiac, wordless vocals. With the re-introduction of the original piano line, and Diana and George seeming to answer each other, the chord changes stop, the strings build the tension till there is a sudden end of TIME