Guitar virtuoso and rock legend, Steve Hackett (formerly of Genesis), releases his latest album, The Night Siren, on Friday, March 24th via 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. Hackett discusses the album in detail in this brand new interview:

The first track to be taken from the album, “In The Skeleton Gallery”, is available for streaming below.

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 as strongly as ever, along with musicians from several different countries, who 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.

Tracklisting:

“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”

In addition to singers Kobi and Mira (Israeli and Palestinian), also featured on the album are Nick D'Virgilio (drums) from the USA, Malik Mansurov (Tar) from Azerbaijan & Gulli Breim (drums and percussion) from Iceland, along with regular Hackett collaborators: Roger King, Nad Sylvan, Gary O'Toole, Rob Townsend and Amanda Lehmann. Additional musicians who add to the rich flavour of the album are Christine Townsend (violin and viola), Dick Driver (double bass) and Troy Donockley (Celtic Uilleann).

The Night Siren will be released through Inside Out Music on Friday, March 24th in the following formats:

* Special Edition CD/Blu-Ray Digipak featuring 5.1 surround sound mix & "Making of...” feature
* Standard Jewel case CD
* Digital Download

Pre-order the album here.

Steve Hackett is returning with an exciting new show, Genesis Revisited with Classic Hackett, for a 13-date North American tour in February and March 2017.
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”, “One For The Vine” and “Anyway” as well as material from The Night Siren.

Confirmed tour dates are as follows:

February
24 - Santander PAC - Reading, PA,
25 - Playstation Theater - New York, NY
26 - Wilbur Theatre - Boston, MA
28 - 20 Monroe Live - Grand Rapids, MI

March
1 - Royal Oak Music Theatre - Royal Oak, MI
2 - The Oakville Centre - Oakville, ON
3 - Kleinhans Music Hall - Buffalo, NY

(Photo - Tina Korhonen)