"Thirteen", Soft Machine's new studio album, released on March 13, 2026, an album that gives many surprises that give the album a particular meaning, all linked together by words that are now obsolete: respect and feeling.
The first surprise is in the line-up, which marks the debut of drummer Asaf Sirkis. A world-renowned drummer and percussionist, renowned for his incredible inventiveness and extraordinary ability to master complex odd meters with an uncommon sensitivity, he joined the group in 2023, succeeding the legendary John Marshall after his departure. He has directed several solo projects and worked with renowned artists such as Tim Garland and Gwilym Simcoc and the second surprise is himself.
Asaf Sirkis, author of "Waltz for Robert", gives one of the most emotional moments of Thirteen, a tribute to Robert Wyatt, co-founder, drummer and original voice of Soft Machine. Sirkis, who has formed a friendship with Wyatt, had initially asked him to participate in the album. Wyatt, now eighty, however, refused, explaining that his musical career has come to an end. Precisely for this reason, Sirkis wrote the song as a tribute to Wyatt.
Although he is a skilled and contemporary drummer, Sirkis tries to reproduce Wyatt's jazzy approach on this track. The rhythm is soft and undulating, recalling the melodic sensibility typical of Robert's solo works, such as Rock Bottom.
Wyatt, who has long since retired from music, is the only founding member still alive (after the death of Kevin Ayers in 2013, Daevid Allen in 2015 and Mike Ratledge in 2024). "Waltz for Robert" is Soft Machine's way of 2026 to thank the man who started it all.
Despite retiring from music for several years, Robert Wyatt has maintained a relationship of esteem with the new line-up. He expressed great admiration for the new drummer, Asaf Sirkis, saying, "In my opinion, there is nothing that [Asaf] cannot do when he engages... His drumming skills keep improving, but what really impresses me are his ethereal and haunting compositions."
The third surprise is that the album includes an extraordinary cameo by founding member Daevid Allen (recorded years earlier) in the track "Daevid's Special Cuppa".
The posthumous collaboration with Daevid Allen was born when the band found an unreleased vocal recording of Allen (founding member of Soft Machine and Gong, who passed away in 2015). Theo Travis and John Etheridge composed a psychedelic and jazz sound carpet around Allen's part, creating an exciting connection between the group's origins in 1966 and the formation of 2026. It is considered the spiritual heart of the record, one of the deepest elements of the Thirteen album, as it closes a historical circle opened 60 years earlier.
The song "Daevid's Special Cuppa", which concludes the album, is a spiritual tribute built around an original performance by Allen. This is not just any archival material, but a glissando guitar session recorded by Theo Travis in 2001. Travis composed a psychedelic and mysterious song by "setting" Allen's guitar. To give more depth to the atmosphere, he used the duduk (a traditional Armenian instrument), creating an evocative sound carpet that accompanies Daevid's "ghostly" guitar towards the end of the album.
Although Allen was a founding member in 1966, he did not appear on any of Soft Machine's official studio albums at the time (due to problems with the band's departure before the first album was recorded). Thanks to this song, Allen finally appears on a Soft Machine studio album, sixty years after contributing to the birth of the group.
We also clearly see the other members of the band, as the musicians who recorded Thirteen are veterans of the jazz-rock scene and the "Canterbury Sound".
John Etheridge, a versatile and immensely talented guitarist, holds the record for longevity in the history of Soft Machine. He joined the group in 1975 for the album Softs, replacing Allan Holdsworth. He has collaborated with world-renowned artists such as Stéphane Grappelli, Nigel Kennedy and John Williams. Pat Metheny has called him one of the best guitarists globally, and his musical style combines jazz technique with the strength of rock.
Theo Travis, multi-instrumentalist and composer, is a key element of contemporary progressive music, as I have already mentioned in the reviews of his numerous collaborations, some of which are recent. He was a long-time member of Gong from 1999 to 2009 and has collaborated extensively with the likes of Steven Wilson, Robert Fripp and David Gilmour, as well as ZOPP, Anekdoten and Porcupine Tree, to name a few. In 2006, after the passing of Elton Dean, he joined Soft Machine (then known as Legacy). In addition to playing, Travis is often the producer of their studio albums, including "Thirteen."
Fred Thelonious Baker, a world-renowned bassist with a strong connection to the Canterbury scene, has been the official bassist since 2020, taking over from Roy Babbington, who personally chose him as his successor. Baker favored the use of fretless bass, giving the compositions a fluid and melodic sound.
Also participating in the album:
Pete Whittaker on organ and Fender Rhodes piano on two tracks, a longtime collaborator of both John Etheridge (in his trio Blue Spirits) and Theo Travis (in the Double Talk project)
Nick Utteridge, percussionist specializing in atmospheric sounds who participates exclusively in track 5, the epic 13-minute suite entitled The Longest Night.
The album plays with the anniversary of the number 13, dismantling the belief that it brings bad luck and presenting it instead as a symbol of rebirth and development:
The album: This is Soft Machine's 13th studio album.
The tracks: The work includes 13 new songs.
The duration: The middle track has a precise duration of 13 minutes.
The dates: the coincidence that co-founder Daevid Allen was born on January 13 and died on March 13, the date also chosen for the release of the album.
The album has 13 tracks. The record offers high-class jazz-rock with Canterbury influences, an album recorded in an intensive session of only four days, with a "live recording" energy.
"Lemon Poem Song", the song that opens the album, presents itself with a rhythmic introduction of sunny Jazz-Rock, enriched by funk influences. Asaf Sirkis showcases his mastery of creating complex yet engaging grooves. Etheridge's guitar comes in with clean, fast phrasing.
"Open Road" is an atmospheric Prog-Jazz track with Theo Travis' tenor sax with an intense sound and Fred Baker's fretless bass to support the melody.
"Seven Hours" is a piece of contemporary Jazz with an extraordinary performance by Travis on flute playing with the arpeggios of Etheridge. Sirkis' drums are lightweight with a lot of cymbal work.
"Waltz for Robert" is a Canterbury-style tribute to Robert Wyatt. The melancholic piece is characterized by an emotional flute melody and Sirkis' use of brushes, which recalls Wyatt's style of the 70s. The result is a soft, orchestral sound, devoid of virtuosity, which highlights the melody. Theo Travis, on flute, is the real protagonist, with a melancholic but sweet tone that seems to "sing" instead of Wyatt. John Etheridge, with his guitar arpeggios, further enriches the song.
At over 13 minutes long, "The Longest Night" stands as one of the most important tracks on the album. This stunning suite, divided into several sections, masterfully blends Symphonic Prog and Fusion. The choral performance is exceptional, with Etheridge unleashing distorted solos, while the rhythm section handles dizzying tempo changes to perfection. A really great song.
"Disappear" is Travis' shortest, Avant-Garde-style track with great effects and loops. Experimental.
"Green Books" Signed by Etheridge, it has a bucolic sound by blending the Folk-Jazz style with the Canterbury Sound. Great the acoustic guitar part that recalls the early 70s, and the harmony between winds and strings is great.
"Beledo Balado" is a rhythmic and gritty track of an exciting Fusion technique in which John Etheridge shows off all his technique and precision, and Fred Baker particularly inspired with powerful bass lines.
"Pens to the Foal Mode" is a short collective improvisation recorded spontaneously in the studio, a splendid inlay of Free Jazz with the musicians chasing each other without a score but demonstrating an exceptional understanding.
"Time Station" is a short psychedelic interlude with Travis' synthesizers and flutes with effects at the center.
"Which Bridge Did You Cross?" is a Fusion track with drums by Asaf Sirkis, which stands out for its complex tempos while evolving a catchy melody.
"Turmoil" is the only track signed by Fred Baker, in Fusion and Jazz-Rock style, very intense with Baker's powerful bass and dark tones and Travis' aggressive and eclectic sax.
"Daevid's Special Cuppa" closes the album, with the posthumous "presence" in a guitar line by Daevid Allen, in Space-Rock and Psychedelic style with his almost ghostly glissando guitar and spiritual tone, around which the band simply accompanies without being invasive, with extreme respect.
A record that reaffirms the sound of Soft Machine serves as a link between the legendary past of the Canterbury scene and today's jazz-rock. The album is characterized by a hard-fusion energy. John Etheridge's guitar alternates between moments of acoustic lyricism and powerful riffs and virtuosic solos, while the rhythm section of Fred Baker and Asaf Sirkis ensures a robust groove and a confident mastery of odd time signatures.
The album is full of references to the roots of the group. Theo Travis' abundant use of flute and saxophones creates a pastoral and dreamlike atmosphere, characteristic of the English progressive of the 70s, often embellished with echo effects and electronic loops (looping).
Unlike more defined works, Thirteen offers a lot of creative freedom. There are sections of moderate free-jazz and ambient moments in which the musicians interact spontaneously, making listening less obvious and very similar to the "live" experience recorded in the studio.
The dialogue between the four soloists is fantastic and, for sentimental people like me, the tributes to two gigantic personalities of Canterbury music and scene, in "Waltz for Robert", a tribute to Robert Wyatt, and to founding member Daevid Allen in the song "Daevid's Special Cuppa" which for the first time appears in an album of the band he founded, Two moments that moved me in their deep meaning.
Excellent album and absolutely recommended.
My Version
Label: Dyad Records – DY034LP
Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: UK
Release: Mar 13, 2026
Tracklist
Lemon Poem Song - 3:23
Open Road - 7:28
Seven Hours - 5:13
Waltz for Robert - 4:21
The Longest Night - 13:04
Disappear - 3:57
Green Books - 5:35
Beledo Balado - 4:34
Pens to the Foal Mode - 2:43
Time Station - 2:48
Which Bridge Did You Cross? - 2:59
Turmoil - 5:06
Daevid's Special Cuppa (feat. Daevid Allen) - 3:11
Duration 65 minutes
LineUp
John Etheridge: Electric guitar
Theo Travis: Saxophones, flutes, duduk, keyboards (Fender Rhodes, piano, Mellotron), electronics
Fred Thelonius Baker: Fretless bass
Asaf Sirkis: Drums, percussion, piano
Guests:
Daevid Allen (glissed guitar on track 13)
Pete Whittaker (organ/Rhodes)
Nick Utteridge (gong).
Link to listen to Thirteen directly on the official platforms:
Bandcamp: Ideal to directly support the band and the label (MoonJune Records).
Spotify: For quick streaming if you have an account.
Apple Music: High quality version for Apple users.
YouTube Music: For free listening with static videos of the tracks.
Note: All links to the musicians' works are in the TAGS under the article title or on the "Artists"
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