2020
On 12 January 2020, my dance orientated instrumental IRIDESCENT was released as a digital download, followed on 22 February by a three-track EP, THE GIRL BY THE LAKE.
PSYCHIC REMNANTS
On 13 March, the Sleep Fuse label released an expanded, limited and individually numbered CD-R edition of my debut album, FROM DISTANT SHORES.
In April 2020, I established the Psychic Remnants series to make some of the best material from my 1970s musical archive available for the first time. The recordings provided an opportunity to revisit my earliest experiments and compositions, many of which had remained unheard for several decades.
17 April 2020 – PSYCHIC REMNANTS VOLUME 1: 1973–75
On 22 April, I released a new recording and arrangement of ILLUMINERE NO. 1 (ORCHESTRAL ARR.), originally written in 1983.
On 1 May, SLINKY, a single by The Trance Dimensionals featuring Nik Turner, was released. The single has since been deleted.
In July, I made a guest appearance on musician Rodrigo Passannanti’s track SKY WALKER.
SONIC PORTALS
In December 2020, I established a second archive series, Sonic Portals, this time concentrating on recordings and improvisations from 1980–1982. As with Psychic Remnants, the intention was to make previously unreleased material available, offering a glimpse into another important period of my musical development.
21 December 2020 – SONIC PORTALS VOLUME ONE
2021
The archive releases continued throughout the year, with further volumes of both series appearing alongside new recordings and collaborations.
8 January – PSYCHIC REMNANTS VOLUME 2: 1973–76
22 January – SONIC PORTALS VOLUME TWO
5 February – PSYCHIC REMNANTS VOLUME 3: 1976
19 February – SONIC PORTALS VOLUME THREE
At the end of June, I met up with Nik Turner and Dave Anderson at Foel Studio in Wales to complete the recording of the Trance Dimensionals album SYNCHRONICITY. During the sessions, Nik also recorded vocals for two new songs I had written, which I intended to use on our next album.
On 2 July, THERE’S ALWAYS TOMORROW, my second album with lyricist Dave Rees, was released on CD-R and as a digital download. The album featured Kerry Schultz of Q The Music on vocals and Warren Ringham on trumpet, alongside Sammi Broad, Eleanor Rees and David Rhys-Morris.
The archive series continued with:
30 September – PSYCHIC REMNANTS VOLUME 4: 1976–77
20 October – SONIC PORTALS VOLUME FOUR
3 November – PSYCHIC REMNANTS VOLUME 5: 1977
15 November – SONIC PORTALS VOLUME FIVE
On 6 December, I released THREE DANCES FOR YULE, a collection of three pieces I had originally written in 1978.
2022
The beginning of 2022 saw the continuation of both archive series:
4 January – PSYCHIC REMNANTS VOLUME 6: 1977–78
21 January – SONIC PORTALS VOLUME SIX
19 February – PSYCHIC REMNANTS VOLUME 7: 1978
4 March – SONIC PORTALS VOLUME SEVEN
On 30 March, RACE AGAINST TIME, by Ra Rising, was released on CD and as a digital download. By this time, guitarist Brian Jones had left the band, and I took over lead guitar duties, in addition to playing keyboards and producing the album.
9 April – PSYCHIC REMNANTS VOLUME 8: 1978
On 20 April, I released the eighth and final instalment of the Sonic Portals series, bringing that particular archive project to a close.
On 29 April, THE WORLD OVER was re-released worldwide as a remastered digital download, making the album available through Amazon, Spotify, iTunes and other online platforms.
SYNCHRONICITY – NIK TURNER & THE TRANCE DIMENSIONALS
On 30 May, the Italian record company Black Widow Records released SYNCHRONICITY by Nik Turner & The Trance Dimensionals. It was made available in several formats, including a limited, individually numbered double LP, a standard double LP, CD and digital download.
The album featured:
Nik Turner: Vocals, flute and saxophone
Clog: Bass guitar
Dai Rees: Drums
Steve Hillman: Acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards and synthesisers
Additional contributions included:
Angel Flame: Narration on “The Enchantress” and “Abode of the Blessed”
Dave Anderson: Bass guitar on “Children of the Sun”
Eleanor Rees: Vocals on “Children of the Sun”
Linda Hillman: Voice and flute on “The Enchantress”
Mr Dibs: Vocals on “Taken to the Limit”
Richard Benjamin: Vocals on “Angels of the Light”
On 25 July, ASHTAR was released worldwide in its expanded form through Amazon, Spotify, iTunes and other digital platforms.
22 August – PSYCHIC REMNANTS VOLUME 9: 1978
In August, I also made a guest appearance on BEYOND THE STARS, a track by Turkish musician Mert Akyurek.
On 10 November, I received the sad news that Nik Turner had passed away. Although he had been unwell for some time, his death still came as a tremendous shock. Nik had been a wonderful character and a great musical inspiration, and I felt privileged to have worked with him. His contribution to our music, and the memories of our time together, will always remain with me.
Back in 2007, I had entered into discussions with cult Los Angeles filmmaker Damon Packard about providing music for his fantasy/drama film SPACEDISCO ONE. I submitted four demo recordings, composed along the lines of what I understood he was looking for. Although none of the demos was ultimately used in the film, I later revisited one of them, which eventually became the title track of the 2021 album THERE’S ALWAYS TOMORROW.
On 21 December 2022, I released SPACE DISCO DEMO #2 as a digital download, making the original recording available for the first time.
29 December – STAR TEMPLES, a previously unreleased album dating from the 1980s.
2023
The Psychic Remnants series reached its conclusion with two final archive releases:
4 March – PSYCHIC REMNANTS VOLUME 10: 1978
25 March – PSYCHIC REMNANTS VOLUME 11: 1979
With eleven volumes in total, the series had successfully brought together a substantial collection of my earliest recordings, spanning the years 1973–1979.
SUNSETS OF SUMMERS PAST
On 1 May, I finally released SUNSETS OF SUMMERS PAST, an album that had been missing from my discography for more than two decades.
Originally conceived in 2000, it was intended to be the progressive rock follow-up to my 1999 album CONVERGENCE. The compositions had already been completed and were ready to record, but for various reasons the project never came to fruition at the time. I had always intended to return to it, and finally began recording the album in 2022, bringing a long-standing ambition to completion.
THE TRANCE DIMENSIONALS – SPACE ANGELS
In June, The Trance Dimensionals reconvened at Foel Studio in Wales to begin recording our next album, SPACE ANGELS.
For this project, Dave Anderson took on all the bass guitar duties, with the exception of “Moon Dancer”, on which Mike Bew played bass and also provided vocals.
Before Nik’s passing, I had written two new songs with him, and he had recorded the vocals for both during our 2021 sessions. These were “Space Groovin’” and “N.D.E.”, and it was particularly special to be able to include his performances on the new album.
THE SNOWMAN FROM SPACE
On 1 December, I released THE CHRISTMAS HERALD E.P. under the name The Snowman From Space.
This was a little musical indulgence that had originally been written in 2003 as a Christmas dedication to my father. I had also produced several faster mixes at the time, particularly for my then very young nephews, who loved nothing more than frantically dancing around to them! It was therefore rather nice to finally make these recordings available.
2024
MEDIEVALUS – VESTIGES
On 20 March, I released VESTIGES under the name Medievalus.
Ever since childhood, I have been fascinated by early music, particularly that of the Medieval period, the Renaissance and beyond. I have also always felt a connection with those distant times, almost as though they were memories of another existence.
One of the first musical instruments I learned to play was the humble recorder, and from the early 1970s onwards I wrote a number of pieces for it. Some of these compositions eventually found their way onto this album. The recordings themselves span a considerable period, having been made between the early 2000s and 2024.
TIME VORTEX
On 19 April, TIME VORTEX, my third album with Thaneco, was released.
For this project, we agreed to revisit some of my 1980s music and rebuild the recordings from the ground up. I supplied Thaneco with the original four-track Portastudio recordings, MIDI files and newly recorded solos, together with other material. He then set about reconstructing and developing the pieces, extending and reworking “Prelude”, “Star Cycle” and “Accumulator” in the process.
He also composed a beautiful new ending for “Time Levels”, dedicated to Linda, which I felt was a particularly touching addition.
JEWELLED EYE MUSIC
During 2024, I began to notice that a whole new generation of listeners was discovering my music. This renewed interest encouraged me to make more of my earlier albums available on CD-R, many of which had never previously received a physical release in this format.
To facilitate this, I established my own label, JEWELLED EYE MUSIC, and began working through my back catalogue, starting with NEW HORIZONS.
20 September – NEW HORIZONS
Jewelled Eye Music – Limited Edition CD-R and download – JEM 003
THE TRANCE DIMENSIONALS – SONIC ROCK SOLSTICE
On 23 June, The Trance Dimensionals performed live at the SONIC ROCK SOLSTICE festival at Stoke Prior, Worcestershire.
The line-up for this very special occasion was:
Angel Flame: Vocals and dance
Dave Anderson: Bass
Mike Bew: Rhythm guitar and vocals
Jez Creek: Cosmic oscillations
Steve Hillman: Lead and rhythm guitar
Dai Rees: Drums
We were also honoured to be joined on stage by a very special guest, Miss Renée, who had flown over from the United States to perform at Sonic Rock Solstice.
Miss Renée was no stranger to the world of psychedelic rock. Back in the early 1970s, she had been one of the dancers who performed with Hawkwind during their legendary Space Ritual tour. An American dancer, she had also previously performed with both the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane in the United States.
Having someone with such a remarkable connection to that era join us on stage was an extraordinary experience. It was a great honour to welcome her, and her appearance made an already memorable performance all the more special.
Photo by Pete Stanley. L-R front: Miss Renée, Dave Anderson, Angel Flame, Mel. Back L-R: Steve, Mike Bew, Dai Rees and Jez Creek.
Photo by Dai Rees: Steve and Mr Dibs.
In August an in depth interview I did with Andy Garibaldi appeared in issue 79 of Audion Magazine. Audion 79 (multimedia) | Audion
STEVE HILLMAN & DAVE REES – LOOKING FORWARD TO THE PAST
On 27 September, LOOKING FORWARD TO THE PAST, my third album with Dave Rees, was released.
Although the music of John Barry continued to be a major influence on our work, this time we also paid homage to composer Edwin Astley, whose music had played such a significant part in our childhood and adolescent years growing up in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It was a very personal tribute to a composer whose work had left a lasting impression on both of us.
BYGONES
On 31 October, I released BYGONES, a collection of sixteen tracks drawn from my orchestral, classical, melodic and horror soundtrack-style compositions.
Most of the pieces had never been officially released, while several had remained virtually unknown until now. The album also marked the first official release of my composition “Sam Hain”, making it a particularly satisfying addition to my catalogue.
FURTHER JEWELLED EYE MUSIC RELEASES
21 December – EVOCATIONS
Jewelled Eye Music – Limited Edition CD-R – JEM 002
31 December – FROM DISTANT SHORES
Jewelled Eye Music – Limited Edition CD-R – JEM 001
These releases continued my project of making my earlier recordings available again, this time through my own label.
2025
4 April – Singer songwriter Eleanor Rees released her stunning debut album BEHIND CLOSED SHORES on which I arranged and played piano on her beautiful and moving song PLEASE. behind closed shores | Eleanor Rees
THE TRANCE DIMENSIONALS – SPACE ANGELS FEATURING NIK TURNER
On 7 January, SPACE ANGELS FEATURING NIK TURNER, by The Trance Dimensionals, was released through Black Widow Records.
The album was made available as a limited-edition LP, standard LP, CD and digital download. It was particularly poignant to see the project completed and released following Nik’s passing, allowing his final recorded contributions to these songs to reach a wider audience.
The line-up was:
Nik Turner: Vocals, saxophone and flute
Angel Flame: Vocals
Dave Anderson: Bass
Mike Bew: Vocals and bass on “Moon Dancer”
Steve Hillman: Synthesisers, keyboards and guitars
Dai Rees: Drums and percussion
Special guests:
Jez Creek: Cosmic oscillations
Mr Dibs: Vocals on “Higher and Higher”
The album was also blessed with some particularly stunning cover artwork, created by American artist Nick Beery, who works under the name Beery Method. Nick is an accomplished visual artist and designer with a particular appreciation for the relationship between music and visual art. His striking front-cover illustration, together with the specially designed typography, provides a wonderfully atmospheric visual identity for SPACE ANGELS, capturing the album’s cosmic and psychedelic character.
I was particularly delighted with the results. Nick’s artwork adds another dimension to the album, creating a visual counterpart to the music and helping bring the whole project together.
During March The Trance Dimensionals met up at Foel Studio, Wales, to begin the recording sessions for our third album titled XIN.
In April, an interview I did with Jacopo Vigezzi of the Progressive Rock Journal was published online [Interview] Exclusive interview with Electronic and Space Rock pioneer Steve Hillman
JEWELLED EYE MUSIC
14 May – TIMELEVELS
Jewelled Eye Music – Limited Edition CD-R – JEM 005
Between May and June, I released a selection of some of the best recordings from my 1978 Korg archive under the title KORG IMPROVISATIONS 1978.
On 12 June, I released IMPROVISATIONS, a compilation that bridged the gap between my Psychic Remnants 1970s archive and the Sonic Portals 1980s collection. Most of the material consisted of improvisations recorded in 1980, shortly before I acquired what would become my mainstay synthesiser, the trusty Yamaha CS30L, in August of that year.
Between June and July, I also released the audio recordings of all four of my live appearances from the 1980s. It was particularly interesting to revisit these performances after so many years and finally make them available to listeners.
Further Jewelled Eye Music releases followed:
18 July – WORLDS BEYOND
Limited Edition CD-R – JEM 006
8 August – PHASES
Limited Edition CD-R – JEM 007
Also in August the Trance Dimensionals continued our work on XIN at Foel Studio in Wales.
7 October – ASHTAR
Limited Edition CD-R – JEM 004
The year ended with another session in December for the new Trance Dimensionals album XIN at Foel Studio, Wales.
2026
JEWELLED EYE MUSIC
30 January – LABYRINTH
Limited Edition CD-R – JEM 009
EMERGENCE
During 2025, I had begun work on a new album that took me back to the synthesiser-based music I had been creating during the 1980s. I revisited some of that earlier material, rearranging and recording completely new versions of selected pieces.
The result was EMERGENCE, an album that brought together elements of my earlier musical style with a fresh approach to the compositions.
6 February – EMERGENCE
Jewelled Eye Music – Limited Edition CD-R – JEM 014
CONTINUUM
1 May – CONTINUUM
Jewelled Eye Music – Limited Edition CD-R
During May and June work resumed on the new Trance Dimensionals album at Foel Studio, Wales.
PIANO
17 July – PIANO
Jewelled Eye Music – Limited Edition CD-R – JEM 015
The PIANO album was something I had wanted to make for a very long time, so it was extremely satisfying to finally bring the project to fruition. I revisited a selection of my back catalogue, rearranging and recording the pieces as piano compositions, while also introducing several works that had never previously been released.
SPECTRAL WAVES
My attention next turned to the improvisations I had recorded following my purchase of a four-track Teac 144 Portastudio in April 1982, when I began the process of recording what would become my 1983 debut album, FROM DISTANT SHORES.
Alongside the more structured compositions, I had regularly recorded spontaneous musical ideas, often simply sketching out whatever happened to emerge during an improvisation. Over the following years, I accumulated a considerable amount of this material. Much of it remained dormant in my archives for several decades, although some of the original ideas eventually inspired further development.
The new SPECTRAL WAVES series provides an opportunity to release some of these recordings for the first time, including both the original raw improvisations and pieces that have since been developed into more complete compositions.
9 September – SPECTRAL WAVES VOLUME 01
2 October – SPECTRAL WAVES VOLUME 02
PSYCHIC REMNANTS – BEST OF
17 October – PSYCHIC REMNANTS BEST OF VOLUMES 1–5
Jewelled Eye Music – Limited Edition CD-R – JEM 016
This collection brought together a selection of material from the first five volumes of my Psychic Remnants archive series, offering another opportunity to revisit some of my earliest musical recordings.
STYLOTRON
On 6 November, I released STYLOTRON.
Out of sheer nostalgia, I had bought a Stylophone earlier in the year and thought I really ought to do something with it. In keeping with the spirit of those early 1960s times, this rather light-hearted little ditty simply popped out of the ether!