Role Model In High Hopes Alongside Chuck Timely & The Hourglass 

Jillian Turley

Music Journalist

Who is Role Model, who is Chuck Timely, and what is The Hourglass? Musician and pop singer, Tucker Pillsbury, debuts in his recently released album under yet another alias that has an audience reflecting on who are his alter egos. 

Coming off of his sophomore album “Kansas Anymore,” Role Model, aka Tucker Pillsbury, took heartbreak and life lessons and showed us that there is in fact life after first love. With his newest album “Chuck Timely & The Hourglass,” it feels like a journey of self- realization, soul- searching, and finding his footing in the little joys in life. This new era has Pillsbury displaying a confident, carefree attitude on life — and is ready to show us that he’s ready for whatever comes next.

Over the summer, Timely dropped his first single “High Hopes 3000” and brought a kind of hope and optimism that feels like finally clocking out after a long shift. The track finds him picking himself up and brushing off the realization that maybe being single isn’t so bad. As he sets his sights on what adventure might be next, Timely carries himself in high hopes and poses the question, “Does love come around, or does one come around to it?” 

Opening up this album, I immediately felt serenaded under “Chuck’s Mantra” that began with affirmations that I might just have to start using when I wake up. It feels like a new chapter as he opens up about deserving something “real” and “true”; this new persona to me showed how the new Pillsbury is in tune with him and what he deserves, and rather than what he may have just settled for in the past. If Kansas Anymore was the stage of rotting in bed mourning the loss of what once was, “Chuck’s Mantra” sounds like a breath of fresh air the morning after. 

A theme throughout the album follows Chuck and his experiences with a drink in his hand, at a bar or even a wedding, taking on a different self-reflection each time. In “Love I You,” he says what he struggles to say sober, while also noting the play on jumbled words with the track name. As a reconnection mixes a glass with an old friend, Timely admits that he never really wants the night to end, leaving him endlessly “Chasing Midnight.” Then comes “The Wedding,” where a hungover Timely is convinced marriage isn’t in the cards after failed relationships and long nights. However, somewhere between a celebration, dancing, and watching people evoke an atmosphere of love, he starts to second-guess himself. When his broken glass ends up as imagery of a diamond ring, Chuck seems to be saying “I Do” to the possibility of forever one day. 

As the time on this album is ticking, the hourglass is still running with “Honeydew” being my personal favorite off this album. Here, the singer lets his single life expectations drop and expresses genuine interest in a potential someone. With a sweet track name and a confession of how he finds himself in a position of a not-so-casual attraction, this song reveals to him the importance of letting your guard down around someone he sees so much of himself in.  

The sweetness doesn’t come without reservations of the past, and “Stain” showed me that even though you can move forward, people can find a way to leave a piece of themselves with you whether that’s good or bad. Timely reflects on his past relationship bridging some of “Kansas Anymore” back into this album. And finally, as we see the final hourglass grains gradually fall towards the bottom, “Harmony” feels like the perfect closure of this album and time he spent questioning himself and past love inquiries. Even though he may not have all the answers, Timely finds himself in a comfortable position. To me, the message I got was that maybe the time running out wasn’t meant to be a warning, but to show how to enjoy it while it’s still yours. 

 With an upcoming world tour across 34 dates, Pillsbury has begun to spread his mantra in hopes to show audiences who the person is behind Chuck Timely. So, who is Chuck Timely? He’s Role Model, who’s Tucker Pillsbury, who’s just a boy from Maine looking to lead life with a little more confidence, and much higher hopes.