Chuck Timely & The Hourglass

Who is Chuck Timely? ROLE MODEL, aka Tucker Pillsbury, is still getting to know his alter ego and the narrator of his third album, <i>Chuck Timely & The Hourglass</i>, but he knows two things to be true: First, Timely is a big Bruce Hornsby, Fleetwood Mac and yacht-rock fan, as evidenced by the throwback quality of the piano-forward melodies he favours (most apparent on <b>“High Hopes 3000”</b>, the album’s sunny first single). And secondly, Timely is single and looking for love. Pillsbury may be stepping into Timely’s shoes for a few songs, but Pillsbury is adamant that <i>Chuck Timely & The Hourglass</i> is a work of nonfiction. It draws from his own experiences, specifically the lessons he learned during a transformative period in which he did a lot of soul-searching between relationships. “I had a lot of questions in that time, and I put them all onto the album: Does love come around, or do I need to come around to it?” he tells Apple Music. “I don’t think you should ever put yourself through something on purpose to make art, but I do think love songs born from that drunkenly dating scene are interesting because you’re not comfortable yet.” These questions play out in the songs themselves. Opening track <b>“Chuck’s Mantra”</b> sets the scene: “I am deserving of something real/Something true, someday soon.” “On <b>‘Good Thing’</b>, it’s this moment along this journey where I was like, ‘Oh, maybe I found love,’” he says. “And then <b>‘Joy’</b>, you’re like, ‘Oh, maybe I didn’t.’ I like the ups and downs of that and how you can make love songs from what could be a one-night thing.” Timely is, then, less an alter ego and more a vehicle for ROLE MODEL to tell the truth about himself and his feelings with a new confidence. “I think this is my best work,” he says. “When there’s layers to peel back, I think that is a lot easier when you know who you are as an artist, and when you feel like you’ve found yourself.”