Although he is joined by former Ten bandmates Chris Francis and John Halliwell on guitars for this opus, nevertheless, there’s a huge line of credits after Hughes’ name. He sings, writes, plays, produces… and he’s VERY good. No soaring vocals typical of much continental Melodic Rock these days, but the deep and throaty (even sexy?) vocals of an Englishman doing what he does best. Catchy tunes, lyrically introspective at times, uplifting at others. He writes interesting poetry exploring a range of emotions, and is easy to understand. So I sing along in the car.

Wide Awake in Dreamland is the big ballad on here, a full, rounded stadium sound of layered guitars and keyboard, producing the requisite shiver down the spine. I know many had awaited Sychronicity, which at 8 minutes 10 seconds is the longest track. It opens with keyboards lending support to obviously sampled vocals from a  child and a woman, the simple melody slightly irritating at first and production a little bit ropey. But the melody works its way under your skin so that by the end of the track you will be humming it for the rest of the day.

Other tracks are a good robust balance of guitar and synth and production standard is of good quality. It’s one of those essentially unexciting albums which is nevertheless so likeable you will leave it in the car CD player for ages and forget to change it. Not at the level of some of his previous work, but without doubt a fine result from a musical maestro. And he’s British, which makes a refreshing change!