If 2023 was a real cornucopia of quality prog, this year is unfolding with a pretty good footing too. We have already been treated to a few banging treats and, marking his 30th solo release overall, legendary guitarist Steve Hackett is releasing a new studio album “The Circus and the Nightwhale” on February 16th, 2024, via InsideOut Music. This new effort is a concept album wrapped around the idea of a rite of passage, and the cover art has already raised a little ruckus in some online forums; to be honest, I’m not entirely sure what sort of message the image of a shamu swallowing a circus tent is trying to convey, but I guess this incessant howling of Hackett‘s longtime fans only proves that this elderly statesman of progressive rock is still rather relevant. Sure, this new endeavor probably appeals to the fans of old-school prog aesthetic much better than to the adherents of polyrhythmically sequenced math-metal. Featuring a cavalcade of A-list guest musicians, this selection of thirteen new songs is a pleasant sonic trip down memory lane lined with ancient monoliths, such as KING CRIMSON, GENESIS, and the like; to have the vintage prog conduct packaged with today’s high-end production, I would say, is a real bargain.
The album opens with the somewhat neoclassically tinged riffer, “People of the Smoke,” which blends the vintage DEEP PURPLE aesthetic with the vocal layers of THE BEACH BOYS. So, basically, the song tiptoes the fine line between classic rock and old-school prog – with lots of excellent guitar tricks. I must admit that I have not been paying much attention to Hackett‘s career since 2011’s “Beyond the Shrouded Horizon,” so the classic rock vibe is not exactly the first thing that I would associate Hackett with but, here, it works. He does possess quite a unique style, so even with all the classically tinged fretboard runs, the guitar resonates with the air of his progressive past rather than the slowed-down version of, say, Yngwie Malmsteen. The follow-up track, “These Passing Clouds,” is just a brief instrumental interlude that continues the neoclassical vibe.
Since the album is constructed around a concept, there is an overarching narrative to the order of the songs. That probably explains why the acoustic blues of “Found and Lost,” driven by the sublime sound of the double bass, is sandwiched between the post-Peter–Gabriel era GENESIS vibes of “Taking You Down” and the JETHRO–TULL-like off-kilter prog boogie of “Enter the Ring.” Then, as though preparing for the uptempo shredding of “Circo Inferno,” two slow-tempo breathers are placed consecutively in a row; first, “Get Me Out” rolls out an atmospheric backdrop for Hackett to drop some sublime guitar solos and, next, “Ghost Moon and Living Love,” comes off as a straight-up prog ballad, resonating with the air of vintage CAMEL. Two ballad-like songs in a row is a bit of an overkill, if you ask me but, then again, they are followed by two uptempo bangers. The latter of these bangers, “Breakout,” is the pinnacle of this selection. I did not focus on the lyrics deeply enough to say whether the narrative follows the archetypal hero’s journey arch – if it did, this would be the peak moment, “The Ordeal.”
Then, after the turning point, things cool down for a bit with the ambient soundscapes of “All at Sea.” The placing of these downtempo tracks suggests that you should listen to this album in one go, from start to finish, and not skip tracks. That’s a rather old-school thing to do. Otherwise, the slower tracks might not make much sense – the thing is, there are quite a few downtempo songs on the album. The ambient vibe continues in the ominous atmosphere of “Into the Nightwhale,” only to be stirred up into a full-blown vintage-prog mayhem in “Wherever You Are,” which unfolds as nothing short of a paradigm of epic, vintage prog brilliance. Last, the acoustic guitars in “White Dove” serve as an epilogue for the story, providing a sense of things coming around full circle, love winning through, and the chains being shattered – light obliterating darkness.
In Hackett‘s own words, the album is “a lovely journey that starts dirty, scratchy and smoky and becomes heavenly and divine.” While some of the uptempo bangers do work in isolation as well, the album is best served in one listening session from start to finish, and, as such, it sure does prove that celebrating over 50 years of music with this new conceptual offering, Hackett‘s guitar is still firing on all cylinders. So, after years of not paying attention to his work, I guess it’s time to put him on my watch list again. After all, Steve Hackett is the guy responsible for the absolute best guitar solo of all time! (You know what I’m referring to you, don’t you? Hint: the solo is from 1973.)
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- People of the Smoke
- These Passing Clouds
- Taking You Down
- Found and Lost
- Enter the Ring
- Get Me Out
- Ghost Moon and Living Love
- Circo Inferno
- Breakout
- All at Sea
- Into the Nightwhale
- Wherever You Are
- White Dove
Lineup
Steve Hackett – guitars, harmonica, percussion, bass, vocals
Roger King – keyboards, programming, orchestral arrangements
Rob Townsend – saxophone
Jonas Reingold – bass on tracks 1, 3, 6, and 12
Amanda Lehmann – vocals on tracks 1, 5, 7, 8, and 12
Nad Sylvan – vocals on “Taking You Down”
Craig Blundell – drums on tracks 3, 5 – 7, and 12
Nick D’Virgilio – drums on “People of the Smoke”
Hugo Degenhardt – drums on “Breakout”
Benedict Fenner – keyboards on tracks 7 and 9
Malik Mansurov – tar on “Circo Inferno”
John Hackett – flute on “Enter the Ring”
Label
InsideOut Music
Links
https://www.facebook.com/stevehackettofficial/
