WISH You Were Here
In his first acoustic album since 2008, Steve Hackett has written a love letter to the rich culture of the Mediterranean. After all that’s gone on over the last year, it’s a more than welcome sojourn. The former Genesis guitarist tells us more about this celebratory album.
Words: Chris Cope Images: Jo Hackett
A trick of the camel’s tail in Cairo, Egypt.
“This album is a love affair turned into music, really. I loved doing it. I love every note on it.”
Steve Hackett is full of admiration, and why shouldn’t he be? His new album Under A Mediterranean Sky is an ethereal affair, led by a marriage of exotic nylon guitar and swathes of orchestration. His live work – plugging into his roots as Genesis’ former guitarist – also remains in great demand.
Speaking down the phone from his home in Teddington in south-west London, Hackett is content. “It couldn’t be going better,” he replies when asked how his life is right now.
Under A Mediterranean Sky is his first acoustic album since 2008’s Tribute and it is, in effect, an ode to the rich music and culture of the titular region.
Its instrumental core grabs and nabs inspiration from the countries that surround the Mediterranean Sea, including Spain, Italy, Egypt and Greece – places where he and his wife Jo have travelled both on the job and as tourists. Just like the sea itself, its music can be unpredictable. One moment Hackett can be throttling his acoustic into a frenzy, accompanied by cinematic strings, the next he can be effusing melodies as soft as the touch of a newborn baby.
“I just love the idea of an imaginary journey that recalls all the other actual journeys that I had made,” he says.