The Roaring Waves by Steve Hackett & Steve Rothery
Release date: August 28, 2026Label: InsideOut Music
The collaboration between Steve Hackett and Steve Rothery seems like a perfect combination. Their paths had crossed before when Rothery joined Hackett to perform ‘Fly on a Windshield’ at the Royal Albert Hall in October 2024, celebrating Genesis’ magnum opus, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway for its 50th anniversary. For Rothery, Hackett has always been a major influence on his guitar playing, so teaming up for a collaborative project felt like the perfect opportunity to explore themes inspired by the sea.
Eight years in the making, The Roaring Waves is a beautiful yet stirring blend of classical, progressive, ambient, and electronic music. Released on the InsideOut label, the album places you in the middle of a lonely lighthouse in the heart of the ocean, never knowing when the next storm will strike. At the same time, it takes you beneath the deep blue waters, revealing the mysterious life waiting below the surface.
The sounds of seagulls, waves crashing against the shore, and the Mellotron evoke a sense of lost innocence, while Hackett and Rothery’s soaring guitars cry out across the landscape. Their playing creates a cinematic overture, filled with military-like tension, as if preparing listeners for the crashing force of ‘The Storm’ at any moment.
There is a welcome heaviness throughout, with blaring organ and Mellotron textures giving Daniele Pomo the opportunity to anchor the arrangement. The music recalls the Voyage of the Acolyte era, allowing Hackett to revisit the spirit of his debut solo album more than five decades later. It becomes a clash of the titans as the two Steves exchange soaring guitar solos over rising organ passages, building toward a massive tidal wave of sound.
The album then shifts gears into a latter-day Pink Floyd atmosphere, tipping its hat to David Gilmour’s work on The Division Bell and his solo album On an Island with ‘Sandsend’. Bluesy textures give the piece warmth as our fellow travellers continue their search for hidden treasures across the Pacific. Meanwhile, ‘Red Dragon’ ventures into Celtic-inspired territory. The keyboards often resemble bagpipes before evolving into an almost harmonica-esque texture, suggesting the voyage is finally approaching dry land.
The title track showcases Hackett’s elegant flamenco-inspired guitar work, creating a lush fantasy reminiscent of the illustrated children’s books he enjoyed in his youth. There are echoes of both Ottmar Liebert and Mason Williams as Hackett’s intricate fingerpicking prepares the listener to face the turbulent waters ahead.
Striking classical string arrangements set the stage for towering tidal waves, moonlit skies, and the dangers awaiting the duo as they encounter the perfect storm. The music evokes coded signals from a lonely lighthouse, flashing short bursts of light followed by long pauses to warn ships of the treacherous coastline.
It also carries a strong Steven Wilson atmosphere, recalling both Grace for Drowning and The Raven That Refused to Sing, as Hackett and Rothery briefly venture into the sonic territory Wilson explored during his Kscope years.
‘K-129’ embraces the traditions of the Berlin School. It opens with clear nods to Harmonia’s Deluxe, while incorporating elements of Tangerine Dream and Manuel Göttsching’s work with Ash Ra Tempel. Its Kosmische Musik atmosphere pays tribute to the experimental sounds that emerged from the Ohr and Brain labels during the 1970s, when krautrock flourished in the underground scene.
‘The Black Sea’ captures the feeling of finally reaching land. It unfolds as an ominous yet surreal piece filled with reverb-drenched textures, as our heroes reflect on the price they have paid while looking toward the sun. The composition feels haunted, balancing memories of the past with the present before Hackett shifts into a bluesy harmonica-driven groove on ‘Pacific Coast Highway’, ending the journey with a laid-back rockabilly shuffle.
The Roaring Waves is more than just a fantastic record. It captures the many moods and atmospheres of the sea while offering the adventure of a lifetime through the musical vision of Steve Hackett and Steve Rothery. It may take a few repeat listens to fully absorb everything the album has to offer, but the duo succeeds in creating an imaginative, cinematic work that feels worthy of an IMAX documentary about the mysteries and majesty of the world’s oceans.
