Album: Nexus
Artist: Virgil & Steve Howe
2017 InsideOutMusic
CD: 8985486092

Virgil Howe: keys, piano, synths, bass, drums
Steve Howe: acoustic guitars (2, 3, 6), electric guitars (1, 2, 5, 6-9, 11), steel guitars (1, 4), bass (8), Gibson banjo guitar (10)

Produced by V Howe
Engineered by V Howe/S Howe
Recorded at Adobe Studios & Pipe Dream Studios, London and Langley Studios, Devon
Mastered by Simon Heyworth
Cover painting by Zuni Howe
Photos by Stephanie Howe
Logo by Adam Carter
Package design by Douglas & Glenn Gottlieb


Tracks:
1. "Nexus" (4:57)
2. "Hidden Planet" (3:27)
3. "Leaving Aurora" (3:40)
4. "Nick's Star" (3:41)
5. "Night Hawk" (3:35)
6. "Moon Rising" (3:31)
7. "Passing Titan" (4:06)
8. "Dawn Mission" (5:07)
9. "Astral Plane" (3:37)
10. "Infinite Space" (2:08)
11. "Free Fall" (2:09)

all tracks by V Howe/S Howe


Notes (****): Virgil was Steve's younger son. He was on a number of his father's projects and had his own career, most notably as the drummer in Little Barrie. Virgil discussed Nexus on a Jul 2017 BBC radio appearance, describing the album as, "Something very special to me [...] I had some piano tunes that I did, just over the years, just little ideas, and he [Steve] ended up playing guitar on some of them. Then I ended up putting drums on them, then I ended up mixing them and putting some more synths on them, and trying to make them sound cool and not like spa music... I didn't want like a new age album. So I made it quite trippy, psychedelic, spacey, it's a space theme kind of thing. [...] And it's just me and my Dad." In the Sep 2017 issue of Prog, Steve said the project is a "full-on collaboration", but that, "it's Virgil's bed and melodies but I've come in to add a little bit more." The album is all instrumental, spacey, haunting, different from much of Virgil's other music, something new coming out of the combination of father and son playing.

The album was finished when Virgil unexpectedly died of a heart attack on 11 Sep 2017, not long before his 42nd birthday. The album came out shortly after, dedicated to his memory. Steve said in a press release: "Virgil and I had only recently completed recording "Nexus", which contains eleven of his tunes to which I added a guitar to suit each one. [...] We started to work together in 2016 by selecting about nine tunes from his 'stockpile' of piano based music that he'd periodically sent Jan & I each time he'd written and recorded a new idea. I began adding guitars to them, then I'd play them to Virgil. He'd then surprise me by bringing up other channels of instrumentation which I'd never heard. The tunes went from straightforward 'duets' to something bigger & better, more of a complete picture than a mere shape. "Free Fall" & "Nick's Star" were added from earlier sessions [...] We hope that the music just completed will stand as a fitting tribute to his life and legacy".

The cover art uses a painting by Virgil's daughter with Jen Dawson, Zuni (b. 2012). Photos were by his sister Stephanie and the logo by her partner, Carter.

A track entitled "Lunar Mist" was prepared as a bonus for a Japanese release of Nexus, but that never came about. Instead, it was used as the first track for an album of the same name that Steve assembled and released in 2022. (HP, 20 Oct 19; updated 8 Oct 22)

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