Casey Hayes is taking a shot at what is a rarity in today’s short attention spanned world—a concept album.

After having serious throat problems, surgery and then retraining himself to sing, Hayes is back with a solo release, The Iron Year; so solo, in fact, that Hayes played every instrument, sang lead on every song and produced and mixed the album.

The Iron Year begins with Hayes’s realization that his main instrument—his voice—is in major need of repair. This realization culminates with “The White Whale,” where a forlorn piano adequately reveals the moment. As we traverse through “Valediction,” “Ruin” and “Violet” there is trepidation, both within his words and his melodies, but as “Where Do We Go From Here,” suggests, the winner is the one who stands back up, not just the one who makes progress, and there is relief.

Hayes experiments with his guitar and keyboard to create a sound not so far away from his previous album, The Dancer of Words (1998), and one Rush fans might recognize, and his heartfelt performance indicates there is a lot more at stake for him here.