Title: Steve Hackett: The Night Siren
Released: 2017
Genre: Rock, Prog Rock, Art Rock
Artist: Steve Hackett (guitar & vocals), Roger King (keyboards & programming), Nad Sylvan (vocals on Inca Terra), Rob Townsend (all things wind), John Hackett (flute), 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 flavor of the album are Christine Townsend (violin & viola), Dick Driver (double bass), Troy Donockley (Celtic Uilleann) and Leslie Bennett (keyboards on The Gift)

Description:

Guitar virtuoso and rock legend, Steve Hackett (formerly of Genesis), releases his latest album The Night Siren on 24th March 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.

The Night Siren showcases Steve's incredible guitar playing as much as ever, along with regular Hackett collaborators and also musicians from several different countries who are invited to join him in celebrating multicultural diversity and unity. This includes singers from Israel and Palestine. 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 a traveling person, making friends everywhere he goes and has always embraced multicultural diversity. In these times of unrest, he was born to express his convictions that the world needs more empathy and unity. His desire to involve the 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.

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, borders often hold back the tide, But while the night siren wails, music breaches all defenses, To quote Plato, 'When the music changes, the walls of the city shake'. "

The musical journey takes us from the 'Behind the Smoke', focusing on the plight of the refugees throughout the ages, to the penultimate track 'West to East', which reflects on the damage to war and the hope for a better world. From personal to universal, the themes celebrate the life force, breaking free of chains of repression.

Tracklist:
01. Behind the Smoke
02. Martian Sea
03. Fifty Miles from the North Pole
04. El Niño
05. Other Side of the Wall
06. Anything but Love
07. Inca Terra
08. In Another Life
09. In the Skeleton Gallery
10. West to East
11. The Gift

Issued: United Kingdom | InsideOut Music
Duration: 00:57:46 + 00:23:27 (Documentary)