New Wax Wednesday

The shared tale of the two Steves is finally coming to pass. What I mean by that is a pair of titanic British guitarists named Steve — ex-Genesis fretboard maestro Steve Hackett, and co-founding Marillion guitar guru Steve Rothery — have been working on a collaboration years in the making that is finally ready to come our way. And thus, they are releasing The Roaring Waves — a long-gestating, evocatively titled LP that’s credited to Hackett & Rothery — on August 28, 2026, via InsideOut Music.

To get a taste of what to expect from The Roaring Waves, check out the rolling soundscape of the album’s lead offering, “The Black Sea” — replete with its MM-approved surf(ace)-noise intro — via its official YouTube clip below.

Some stats now. The Roaring Waves LP was mixed by Riccardo Romano, and it was both mastered and cut at half-speed at Abbey Road Studios by Miles Showell. A pair of signed, gatefold 180g LP options are available for pre-order directly from Hackettsongs, Hackett’s official site store, here. The signed marbled-vinyl LP has an SRP of $45, while the signed black-vinyl LP is $41. (Zero guesses as to which version I preordered already.)

For those of you who are H&R completists like yours truly, Waves also comes as a limited-edition CD/BD mediabook that includes a Dolby Atmos mix by Andy Bradfield and hi-res stereo mixes on the BD ($28), as well as a standard CD ($22); both of those editions are also signed if you order them from Hackettsongs. All versions of The Roaring Waves release feature artwork and layouts by Simon Ward.

When Rothery and I spoke on Zoom about one of Marillion’s upgraded historical reissues back on September 7, 2022, he confirmed with me that, quote, “Steve Hackett and I are working on an album together, yes. We’ve been talking about it for a while, and we hope to have it out in 2024.” (Wishing Tree thinking there . . . #IYKYK.)

And then, when I spoke with Hackett on Zoom just two days later on September 9, 2022, about one of his own solo releases, he also confirmed the project with his fellow Steve but added, “to be honest, I’m so busy with other stuff — and there are so many things going on in my life right now — that I’m not sure when we’ll be done with it. We both have certain standards.”

Four years removed from those two conversations, I can tell you that The Roaring Waves is well worth the wait. Naturally, I’ve only heard it digitally as of this posting, so I cannot as yet offer a Sound rating for the vinyl, but the Music currently resides at a 9 for me. Some tracks go up to 10 and even 10.5, so I may revise my Sound rating to a 9.5 (or better) after I get the wax in hand and on my turntable.

I’m also expecting to do a joint interview with both Steves at some point in the near(ish) future, so stay tuned for that.

Some additional info about the H&R album now, as culled from the official press release along with the usual MM additives included for good measure. Years in the making, The Roaring Waves brings together seven instrumental compositions that (in their accurate words) “move fluidly between the cinematic and the intimate.” As Hackett explained, “It’s not the kind of album that guitarists normally make together.”

Written and recorded intermittently over nearly a decade — with sessions taking place at The Racket Club (Marillion’s studio in Buckinghamshire, England) and the duo’s respective home studios — The Roaring Waves emerged from an organic, improvisational process. Jams and shared ideas formed the backbone of the music, allowing both players to explore a collaborative dynamic defined by sensitivity and mutual respect.

Throughout the album’s seven tracks, the duo embrace a painterly, almost filmic approach to composition by crafting music that (in their well-chosen words again) “invites listeners to drift, imagine, and immerse themselves in the proceedings.” Rothery put it this way regarding H&R’s aural-portrait goals: “You’re trying to create an atmosphere . . . like painting a picture. Taking people on a journey.”

The album’s aforementioned (and earlier embedded) first single, “The Black Sea” (Side 2, Track 2), finds Hackett and Rothery performing alongside the above-noted Riccardo Romano — who also co-wrote, mixed, and played keyboards and bass on the album proper — and drummer Leon Parr.

Noted Rothery, “I think ‘The Black Sea’ is the perfect introduction to the sonic world we’ve created between us. We have a very special chemistry.” Concluded Hackett, “For ‘The Black Sea,’ our joint guitar sounds with the keys created a strong vibe of intrigue along with a sense of a musical dark sea adventure.”

One might even venture to say that Hackett’s final forecast is also a perfect descriptor for The Roaring Waves at large.

HACKETT & ROTHERY
THE ROARING WAVES
180g 1LP (InsideOut Music)

Side 1
1. The Storm
2. Sandsend
3. Red Dragon
4. The Roaring Waves

Side 2
1. K-129
2. The Black Sea
3. Pacific Coast Highway