If everything went according to plan, the man who came to fame as Marillion‘s singer and lyricist retired to one of the smaller Scottish islands last year. Although born Derek William Dick, readers of this blog will, no doubt, know him by his stage name of Fish. The track I have chosen for your aural entertainment this week is a tribute to him.

Sentimental Mercenaries is usually described as a ‘doom metal’ or ‘goth metal’ band, but this particular track is definitely neither of those. The categorisation panel here prefers ‘arena rock’ or ‘neo-prog’: a wash of synthesiser sounds, a pulse of bass, drums and rhythm guitar, and vocals that soar over and above the instrumental parts. It’s a piece straight out of the Marillion songbook.

The island that Fish has moved to is in a sparsely populated area protected for its beautiful scenery. Those who live there are mostly fishermen or crofters. It might be a good place to open a traditional fish-and-chip shop. The ingredients are all to hand: fish from the sea, potatoes from the land. And you wouldn’t need a social media influencer to promote it. Just call the shop “Fish’s Corner” and its Facebook page will gather thousands of followers in no time at all. Fish might sell a few more records, too.