Although now in his early seventies, Steve Hackett remains one of the most prolific artists in the hallowed halls of progressive rock (or indeed any genre) both in terms of touring and in the production of new music. Each album shows a resolve to explore different components of his sound and different musical environments. Recent albums Under A Mediterranean Sky and Surrender of Silence could not be more different but both were unambiguously Steve Hackett.
With The Circus and The Nightwhale - his thirtieth solo album and his sixth during the last ten years – he embraces the blues, searing progressive rock and ballads, all imbued with a magical sprinkling of theatre and fantasia. A rite of passage story following the journey of a young character named Travla, the album is partially autobiographical (certainly during the earlier parts of the album) but also heavily symbolic. For Hackett, such an album has been coming for a while now. “I love this album. It says the things I’ve been wanting to say for a very long time.”
Beginning with crackling static before resolving into various stations from a radio and an announcer asking Are you sitting comfortably?, People of the Smoke opens the album in 1950s post-war London, evoking the time Hackett grew up in Battersea, with the famous power station in view from his family home. Urgent orchestral strings play as Big Ben tolls and Hackett’s unmistakable guitar takes up the melody. Portraying a harsh, industrial world (Nick D’Virgilio’s drums imitating the machines of the factories) and the relentless passage of time, People of the Smoke reflects the monochromatic atmosphere of the environment through persistent, heavier passages, allowing only minute glimpses of a better life ahead. Cloud factory, grey perfume / Red snakes slither under the moon / Horns in the night, play on bombsites / When the bell tolls another stroke / People of the smoke come and go. Commenting on the effects of industrialisation, class division but also the enduring human spirit, the first track clearly defines the confines of the world Travla inhabits.
Passing Clouds is a short but beautifully constructed instrumental, reinforcing Hackett’s ability to paint glorious colours every time he picks up a guitar. This segues directly into the hard-edged blues groove of Taking You Down. The track traverses several different musical sections – all driven by Craig Blundell’s demanding drum patterns. From Rob Townsend’s incandescent saxophone solo to moments of melodic yet increasingly staunch guitar, Taking You Down recalls more of Hackett’s childhood memories. “About a kid I knew who was a card shark at nine years old, a pyromaniac who taught me how to smoke.” Sung with insistent conviction by Nad Sylvan, it paints the picture of an early (although not altogether positive) and short-lived influence on Steve’s life. A demon in disguise even when a child / Jack of diamonds, deuces wild / He’ll stitch you up, you’d better not cry / When your best friend wants you to die. A quieter, dreamlike conclusion to the song prepares to lead us towards the haunting Found and Lost – another short track. A slow and mysterious reverie to a lost love that would fit well in a ghostly, smoky late night jazz club. Starlight dancing through the dark / A promise of love’s embrace / A young girl’s smile through dancing eyes / The warmth within her face / A song that passed.
Steve Hackett is, of course, much loved for his time as member of Genesis for several years during the 1970s. As evidenced by his love of playing the songs of which he was a part on his solo tours, he still remembers much of that time with fondness, despite the frustration and feelings of marginalisation that led to his departure from the band. Through the story of Travla, two songs on The Circus and the Nightwhale – Enter The Ring and Get Me Out - directly address the emotions he experienced during that time. Enter The Ring, described accurately by Hackett as: “Very Genesis, very gentle,” mixes progressive rock, sounds of a fairground carousel and vaudeville to convey the rollercoaster like lifestyle of joining, working and touring in a successful, busy and active band. Magic mountain band tunes in / Kaleidoscopic thrills and spins / Carousel waltz, don’t touch the ground / Faster turns the merry go round / Sleep by day, fly by night / Pleasure gardens of delight / Changing horses, musical chairs / Wildfire burning through the fair. Luscious 12-string guitar, harpsicord, Amanda Lehmann’s additional vocals and John Hackett’s flute combine gracefully as the circus ride begins the track which could easily find a home on albums such as Nursery Cryme or Foxtrot, albeit mingled with the feel of Steve’s more recent work.
Following Travla’s feelings of being controlled by power and demons, Get Me Out is the most heated and belligerent track on the album. Steve likens the slow 6/8 track to the theme from 1950s legal drama, Perry Mason, “It’s rock noir. I’m playing much too fast and angrily, sorry about that!” Reflecting the disillusionment of being trapped in a situation over which you no longer have control, Get Me Out is raw and impassioned both musically and lyrically. Held like a butterfly glued to a pin / Pulled up and down by invisible strings / The curtain comes down, can’t see the view / A dog brought to heel / Unable to feel.
All of Steve Hackett’s recent albums have been incredibly well produced and The Circus and The Nightwhale continues that trend, capturing the hugely varying moods of the album wonderfully. Ghost Moon and Living Love, while listed together, feel like two separate parts of the same entity. Chronicling a journey from loneliness to connection, it shows how Travla moves from the feelings of invisibility (Lanterns glowed in windows filled with others’ noise / Spellbound in the dance, but could not feel the joy), to moments of life-affirming love and beauty (A ghost moon and living love / Whirling sunset from above You’re my world, my dream come true / Whatever life brings it has to be you). Ghost Moon and Living Love is the most enriching song on the album thus far, incorporating some gloriously melodic and uplifting guitar flourishes.
Travla’s time for emotional refreshment does not last long however and soon the fiery Circo Inferno – with sizzling and angry tar from Malik Mansurov – traps him once again in pandemonium. And the circus goes around and around and around / Save me, save me / Don’t turn away but please embrace me. Following track Breakout (featuring Hugo Degenhardt on drums) retains the urgency of Circo Inferno but gives Travla the opportunity to flee, only to find himself All At Sea – a short, foreboding drumless instrumental, which begins to evoke the distant call of a whale.
The Circus and The Nightwhale has obviously been a labour of love for Steve Hackett and while often clearly metaphorical, he has put an enormous amount of himself into the overriding concept. "I wasn’t all at sea, and I hadn’t been in the belly of a whale,” says Steve, “but I had been through things just as challenging.” Into The Nightwhale finds Travla in the belly of a beast. Hackett uses bass tuned down an octave to conjure the animal’s sonority. Building steadily over the first few minutes of the track, Into The Nightwhale is progressive and ethereal, until two and a half minutes in, a wondrous and expectant feel envelopes our protagonist. Visions of love beyond word / Turning the tide together in the world / Love is real now that I’ve found you / I’ll be there when darkness surrounds you.
One of the first songs recorded for the album - Wherever You Are - starts to bring the promise of a better future for Travla. Where the moon and stars shine in your eyes / Will our hearts still beat beyond the edge of time? Hackett commented that the chorus is, “the idea of when somebody is very concentrated on you. When there is love there and you are ignited by each other you start to see all sorts of things. Perhaps the universe is born in each of us and its alive.” While there is a joyful reassurance of hope during parts of the song, rampant keyboards (from Roger King, who is wonderful throughout the album) and cutting guitar in others may lead us to wonder how certain Travla’s future really is.
Concluding track, instrumental White Dove, displays Steve’s enduring love for the Spanish guitar. Serenity and contentment has at last become part of Travla’s life and in Hackett’s words is “water, wings and freedom.”
The Circus and The Nightwhale is a wonderfully constructed album and it is difficult to believe how much is crammed into its forty-five minutes. While not strictly a complete concept album, it tells a wonderful tale never flinching away from the more difficult moments of life. Summing up The Circus And The Nightwhale, Hackett says: “It’s a lovely journey that starts dirty, scratchy and smoky and becomes heavenly and divine. How can you resist it?” For fans, the music of the album navigates through the styles of his more recent work and his time in Genesis, while maintaining his commitment to moving ever forward. In the process, he has produced a cinematic and compelling album which compares well to even his most admired solo material. He retains his status as one of the best guitarists to ever grace the planet and who are we to resist his invitation…
Written: 28th January 2024
The Circus and The Nightwhale is released on February 16th 2024.
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Watch the video for Wherever You Are and People of the Smoke below.