A Life On The Coconut Shy

There are countless pitfalls to being a prolific recording and touring artist. Immerse yourself in what some might perceive as too many projects and allegations of standard-dipping will be unceremoniously fired at you. For Steve Hackett, the past 12 months have – even by his standards – been a feverish period. An autobiography appeared, alongside a live album and an acoustic album. A few months later, he’s back with Surrender Of Silence, a full electric recording, which has raised eyebrows in certain quarters at the speed of release. There have been a few unkind suggestions that he may be succumbing to quantity over quality. Flawed as that argument may be, Hackett reveals it’s a debate he’s aware of.

“There hasn’t been the distraction of touring, so I have upped the ante,” he explains. “But I don’t think that there’s been a loss of passion. I just like doing things that are very different from each other. It’s been the most productive period I’ve ever experienced. Once the acoustic album [] was done, I already had one track recorded, , for a potential album. That had an ecological basis and it was wonderful to then work again with the idea of travelling and taking people places virtually rather than literally. So, there are Russian, African and [East Asian] influences, as well as all the western stuff that we are more familiar with. I like to think that the album is extremely varied and has a travelogue aspect to it.”