Steve Hackett hopes listeners don’t recognise the sounds they hear on upcoming album Wolflight – because that’s the way he intended it.
The former Genesis guitarist set out to explore the evolution of music in his first solo original work since 2011.
He previously revealed he’d learned to play the Iraqi oud while preparing to record, and that Wolflight includes a range of ancient instruments.
In the video below, Hackett says: “I was playing it to Nick Magnus and he said, ‘I don’t recognise what half the instruments are.’ I said, ‘That’s good – that’s what we wanted, to go through that reinvention.’
“It was made so you can go from genre to genre. There’s not too many difficult time signatures in here.
Hackett adds: “I’d like to think Darwin would be proud of this; it’s a journey that goes through a lot of different places and times.”
Wolflight is released on March 30. He tours the UK in October:
Oct 06: Guildford GLive
Oct 07: London O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire
Oct 09: Northampton Derngate
Oct 10: Cardiff St David’s Hall
Oct 11: Southampton O2 Guildhall
Oct 13: Basingstoke Anvil
Oct 14: York Barbican
Oct 16: Aberdeen Music Hall
Oct 17: Gateshead Sage
Oct 18: Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Oct 20: Leeds Town Hall
Oct 21: Llandudno Venue Cymru
Oct 23: Liverpool Philharmonic
Oct 24: Leicester De Montford Hall
Oct 25: Salford Lowry
Oct 27: Ipswich Regent Theatre
Oct 28: Bristol Colston Hall
Oct 30: Birmingham Symphony Hall
Oct 31: Southend Cliffs Pavilion