Former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett will release a new solo album, The Night Siren, on March 24 through InsideOut Music (Sony). The album, according to a press release, “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.
The album includes singers from Israel and Palestine, who both actively campaign to bring Jewish and Arabic people together. There are also instrumentalists from the U.S. 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.”
The album will be released as a special edition CD/Blu-Ray digipak featuring 5.1 surround sound mix and “Making of…” feature; as a standard jewel case CD; and as a digital download. Pre-order is available here.
Related: An interview with Genesis’ Mike Rutherford
Hackett, who turned 67 on February 12, says, in the release, “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 defenses. To quote Plato, ‘When the music changes, the walls of the city shake.’”
Track Listing
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 U.S., Malik Mansurov (Tar) from Azerbaijan and 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 are Christine Townsend (violin and viola), Dick Driver (double bass) and Troy Donockley (Celtic Uilleann).
Hackett will also launch a 13-date North American tour in February and March. Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the classic Genesis album, Wind and Wuthering, he and his band will perform several tracks from the album as well as fan favorites such as “The Musical Box” and other Genesis numbers never performed before by Hackett’s band, including “Inside & Out,” “One for the Vine” and “Anyway,” as well as material from The Night Siren.
Tour Dates
Feb. 14, 15—City Winery, Nashville, TN
Feb. 17—Victoria Theater, Newark, NJ
Feb. 18—State Theatre, Ithaca, NY
Feb. 22—Ridgefield Playhouse, Ridgefield, CT
Feb. 23—NYCB, Westbury, NY
Feb. 24—Santander PAC, Reading, PA
Feb. 25—Playstation Theater, New York, NY
Feb. 26—Wilbur Theatre, Boston, MA
Feb. 28—20 Monroe Live, Grand Rapids, MI
March 1—Royal Oak Music Theatre, Royal Oak, MI
March 2—The Oakville Centre, Oakville, Ontario, Canada
March 3—Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo, NY
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Watch Steve Hackett perform Genesis’ “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway”
