by 17 December. The idea for the album was born when Rothery was rehearsing for a show at the annual international guitar festival in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, in October 2013, with a band including guitarist Dave Foster (of Mr. So & So), drummer Leon Parr (formerly of Mosque), and bassist Yatim Halimi (of Panic Room). An audio recording of the show was made available as a download from Rothery's website as a first impression of the forthcoming album's direction, followed by a CD in February 2014. Steve Hackett (ex-Genesis) appears on two tracks and Steven Wilson on one. The album's cover was designed by Lasse Hoile. The finished album was released on 22 September 2014. Influences and style Rothery has described his own style on the guitar as a mix of Andrew Latimer, Steve Hackett and David Gilmour. He has also cited Joni Mitchell as an influence, especially her use of open tunings, which he believed created a very harmonically rich sound. He has cited Mitchell's "A Case of You" as one of the songs that had the biggest influence on him. Rothery added: "I was also really influenced by George Harrison—the lesson there being to play just what’s right for the song." According to Rothery: "When I was growing up, I was always drawn to players who had an atmospheric and emotional quality to their sound... I think the guitar has the power to communicate emotionally more than any other instrument, and you’re short-changing yourself if you focus on technique at the cost of emotion. You have to listen with your heart, as well as your ears." Barry Cleveland of Guitar Player stated that Rothery "specializes in crafting lush sonic atmospheres with layered guitars and effects processing". Rothery was hailed by Scott Kahn, the Editor in Chief & CEO of the website MusicPlayers.com, as one of the great progressive rock guitarists, comparing him favourably with John Petrucci, David Gilmour and Alex Lifeson. Kahn described him as "an incredibly talented player", whose tone "is sure to appeal to fans of diverse guitar sounds", with "guitars drenched in shimmering chorus, sparkling delays and cavernous reverbs", "spacey sounds and blues sections" as well as "acoustic rhythms that anchor the melodies." Kahn identified Rothery as having "three distinct trademark sounds": a "sparkling clean arpeggio tone draped in digital delays", "soaring melodic lead tones" and a "classic blues tone." Kahn said Rothery was "never one