Guitar virtuoso and rock legend, Steve Hackett (formerly of Genesis), is set to release his latest album ‘The Night Siren’ on March 24th, 2017 through InsideOut Music (Sony). As implied in the title, ‘The Night Siren’ is a wake-up call… the warning of a siren sounding in this era of strife and division, and he discusses the album in detail in this brand new interview video which you can find here:
Steve recently revealed the first track to be taken from the new album, and you can listen to ‘In The Skeleton Gallery’ here:
Steve had this to say about the song: “I’m excited by the imminent release of my new album, The Night Siren, which includes this track, “In The Skeleton Gallery”. You know that ancient childhood night terror which creeps up on you in a dark moment when you’re least expecting it… This track moves from a dream-like groove with a Middle Eastern tinged accompaniment through to a sinister march and on to an out-there nightmare ride, before the child’s box of tricks reclaims it and the lid is finally closed…”
‘The Night Siren’ showcases Steve’s incredible guitar playing as strongly as ever, along with regular Hackett collaborators and also musicians from several different countries who Steve Steve invited to join him in celebrating multicultural diversity and unity. This includes singers from Israel and Palestine, who both actively campaign to bring Jewish and Arabic people together. There are also instrumentals from the USA and Iraq and a multiplicity of sounds, including the exotic strains of Indian sitar and Middle Eastern tar and oud, the ethnic beauty of the Peruvian charango and the haunting Celtic Uilleann pipes.
Steve is widely travelled, making friends everywhere he goes and has always embraced multicultural diversity. In these times of unrest, he has been inspired to express his belief that the world needs more empathy and unity. His wish to involve a range of musical sounds, instruments, musicians and singers from different parts of the world is both a development of his eclectic approach to music and shows how people can be brought together, even from war torn regions.
Talking about his latest work, Steve says, “This latest waxing represents a bird’s eye view of the world of a musical migrant ignoring borders and celebrating our common ancestry with a unity of spirit, featuring musicians, singers and instruments from all over the world. From territorial frontiers to walled-up gateways, boundaries often hold back the tide. But while the night siren wails, music breaches all defences. To quote Plato, ‘When the music changes, the walls of the city shake’.”
The musical journey takes us from ‘Behind the Smoke’, focusing on the plight of refugees throughout the ages, to the penultimate track ‘West to East’ which reflects on the damage of war and the hope for a better world. From personal to universal, the themes celebrate the life force, breaking free from chains of repression.
The album features: Steve Hackett (guitar & vocals), Roger King (keyboards & programming), Nad Sylvan (vocals on Inca Terra), Rob Townsend (all things wind), Amanda Lehmann (vocals), Gary O’Toole (drums), and Benedict Fenner (additional keyboards & programming). Also featured are singers Kobi and Mira (Israeli and Palestinian), Nick D’Virgilio (drums) from the USA, Malik Mansurov (Tar) from Azerbaijan & Gulli Breim (drums & percussion) from Iceland. Additional musicians who add to the rich flavour of the album are Christine Townsend (violin & viola), Dick Driver (double bass), Troy Donockley (Celtic Uilleann) and Leslie Bennett (keyboards on The Gift).
‘The Night Siren’ will be available as a special edition CD/Blu-Ray Digipak featuring 5.1 surround sound & making of documentary, Standard jewelcase CD, Gatefold 2LP vinyl + CD & digital download. Pre-order the album digitally from iTunes or Amazon and receive the track ‘In The Skeleton Gallery’ immediately: http://smarturl.it/SteveHackettTNS“http://smarturl.it/SteveHackettTNS
Behind The Smoke
Martian Sea
Fifty Miles from the North Pole
El Niño
Other Side of the Wall
Anything But Love
Inca Terra
In Another Life
In The Skeleton Gallery
West to East
The Gift
Steve Hackett is returning with an exciting new show Genesis Revisited with Classic Hackett with US tour dates. Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the classic Genesis album ‘Wind and Wuthering’, Steve and his band will be performing several tracks from the album as well as fan favourites such as ‘The Musical Box’ and other Genesis numbers never performed before by Steve’s band including ‘Inside & Out’ and ‘Anyway’ as well as material from ‘The Night Siren’.
Genesis Revisited with Classic Hackett 2017
Friday, February 24th Santander PAC Reading, PA,
Saturday, February 25th Playstation Theater New York, NY
Sunday, February 26th Wilbur Theatre Boston, MA
Tuesday, February 28th 20 Monroe Live Grand Rapids, MI
Wednesday, March 1st Royal Oak Music Theatre Royal Oak, MI
Thursday, March 2nd The Oakville Centre Oakville, Ontario, Canada
Friday, March 3rd Kleinhans Music Hall Buffalo, NY
