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IF IT’S OUT THERE, IT’S IN HERE
Almost 40 years since his last concept album, the celebrated guitarist’s new album draws inspiration from his own early years.
Steve Hackett is to release The Circus And The Nightwhale on February 16 via InsideOutMusic. It’s his first full-blown concept album since his 1975 solo debut, The Voyage Of The Acolyte, and the narrative, which is based on the rites of passage and adventures of a character named Travla, is, to all intents and purposes, autobiographical.
“It starts off in 1950 and then it’s a travel through time and personal experiences,” Hackett explains.“Lyrically it’s a description of my first impressions of the world, and then certain characters that I met. But then it moves into more and more fantastic and imagined situations.”
Hackett rates Genesis’ narrative concept album The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway as“one of the finest prog rock albums of all time”, and plans to play highlights live in 2024.
However, he says the trials and tribulations of its protagonist, Rael, had little or no influence on the unfolding story of The Circus And The Nightwhale.
“I’ve got to do what comes naturally and it’s better not to start off with a concept than commission yourself from the word go,” he explains.“If you’re playing from the heart or just having fun, you’ve got a better chance of doing something that’s honest. And then maybe, one or two tracks in, you realise where you’re headed.”
The lyrics are co-written by Hackett’s wife and long-time collaborator, Jo.
“Having a narrative stretches you,” he says. “It takes you outside your comfort zone, and you’re also having to come up with a score for a ‘film for the ear’to bring the lyric to life.”
The Circus And The Nightwhale took two years to record between touring commitments and features Hackett’s regular band, plus Amanda Lehmann on vocals, John Hackett on flute, guest drummer Nick D’Virgilio and Malik Mansurov on the tar.“There are some extraordinary performances,” Hackett says.
As a time-travelling journey, the album incorporates a number of different musical styles beginning with an evocation of the postwar era, when, as Hackett says,“the world was in chaos, but [culturally] it was still being controlled, so I wanted to get that feeling across where rock’n’roll literally had to burst out.
“John Lennon said he thought that Genesis were true sons of The Beatles,” Hackett adds, and he identifies their influence on the album: “I think music was never the same after Sgt. Pepper’s… , and it comes into my mind with the idea of
