Reddy at last: Jakko Jakszyk’s new solo album is finished.
Images: Tina Korhonen
“I’ve known Peter Hammill over the years and more recently I’ve been bumping into him at the Prog Awards,” says Jakko Jakszyk. “He would say, ‘Jakko, have you started making a solo record yet?’ and I would say, ‘No.’ He’d say, ‘You are mad’, because in the time it’s taken me to not make a solo record, Peter Hammill’s made about 15.”
Mad or not, Secrets & Lies, which is out now, is Jakszyk’s first solo album since Waves Sweep The Sand (2009), a self-released companion to 2007’s The Bruised Romantic Glee Club. He’s played guitar and sung lead vocals in King Crimson since 2013 and his new song-based collection features musicians from that group, as well as old friends John Giblin and Mark King on bass, and comedian Al Murray on drums. Jakszyk also told Hammill that he would only finish the album if he agreed to appear on a song, called Separation. “I sent it to Peter and he sent it back with backing vocals with lyrics, and he even played a bit of guitar,” Jakszyk notes.