Rob Reed eyes April Sanctuary II release

Rob Reed says he’s hoping to release his latest solo album in April.

The Magenta mastermind is currently in the final stages of mixing and mastering Sanctuary II, which will feature drummer Simon Phillips.

Reed say: “I was working on Sanctuary II and wanted to introduce something new as I had avoided drums on the first album. I approached Simon to see if he would be up for playing – after hearing the demos he kindly agreed.

“Simon has featured on some of my favourite albums – Crises by Mike Oldfield and White City by Pete Townshend, alongside his solo work and also with Toto.”

Reed reports the collaboration was a “dream come true” and adds: “The best thing was, we all know he can play the tricky stuff but it was amazing that he knew when to hold back and let the music breath, this just comes with experience.

“I can’t wait for everybody to hear the Simon’s contribution.”

Sanctuary was originally launched in 2014 and was Reed’s personal tribute to Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells and saw him playing all the instruments himself.

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.