THE CIRCUS AND THE NIGHTWHALE

Steve Hackett is surely the most active member of Genesis and arguably the one who has stayed truest to his progressive rock roots, as his seemingly endless creativity drives him into releasing newer albums every other year, a creative force that might have been sparked by the intense Genesis-related touring and revisiting that Mr Hackett has become notorious for in recent years. As we have appreciated the busy release schedule for him in the 2020s, his most recent release titled 'The Circus and the Nightwhale' sees him diving head first into prog rock waters (which for many is what he does best).

And Hackett needs no introduction at all, as every prog fan would position him somewhere high up in the prog rock guitarists pantheon - and on his latest studio album (released as usual on Inside Out Music), it seems that he goes on celebrating the sounds and the style he is well-known for, at this point expanding his majestic catalogue with yet another pretty good album. 'The Circus and the Nightwhale' is a tight collection of seemingly thematically related songs that have been pierced by these shorter one- or two-minute instrumental vignettes on several occasions across the album. However, above all, as Steve Hackett had stated himself, with this album he had the intention of creating a "theater for the ears" and this is probably a very good way of describing his 2024 release. The album is quite cinematic, intricate and melancholic, as the music usually is when one considers the former Genesis guitarist. Occasionally the vocals might not be the most appealing, especially when it comes to Mr Hackett's singing, which has been the subject of discussion for decades, but the album works nicely and flows gently, as it works perfectly as another addition to the Hackett discography, not really introducing anything new or unheard of, just celebrating a specific genre of music.

All in all, 'The Circus and the Nightwhale' is a fine release, perhaps nothing too special, just a very well-crafted album by a prog rock veteran who displays all of his technical and vocal abilities to very positive results. Hackett fans will be enjoying this one for sure, and I think it might also appeal to rock fans in general, too.