Hume’s music is incredibly thought-out. It has to be. It’s impossible to combine such disparate influences as prog-rock, free jazz and Afro-beat and achieve such a unique result without putting in significant mental energy. Yet, for all its debt to complex composition, the most impressive thing about Hume’s first fully realized recording, Penumbra, is its keeping of rock and roll’s rawer essence. Penumbra is emotional, but never sterile. As it twists and turns, unearthing new layers as tight polyrhythms give way to grandiose soundscapes, Penumbra still maintains a spirit of spontaneity.

The local quartet is not afraid of making sweeping statements. Two of the songs (including opener “The Golden Hour,”) exceed ten minutes, and two others hover around the seven-minute mark. Yet, primary songwriter/singer/guitarist Britton Powell and company rarely stay at one tempo or keep one consistent rhythm throughout these long compositions. “The Golden Hour” opens much like a city sunrise, as slow and pretty guitars swell into busy complex rhythms, only to slow again halfway through as the dizzying rhythms give way to ambient, twinkling soundscapes. “Jefferson” starts as a bouncy toe-tapper, but speedy guitar riffs from Powell and Christian Brady eventually give way to a dissonant round of vocal harmonies. “Tollteller,” the other double digit track on Penumbra, stays primarily at mid-tempo, but is punctuated every couple of minutes by scratchy, squeaky guitar string abuse that suddenly makes the band’s appearance at this year’s Sonic Circuits festival make more sense.