After last year’s triumphant and sad return for the final lap with Porcupine Tree, Prog music’s King, Steve Wilson was already planning his new solo album. After releasing an astounding album and a brief world tour to say goodbye, he is back to assert his dominance as a solo artist. While his signature sound is all over The Harmony Codex (Virgin Music Group), he has enlisted a bevy of conspirators to create his next epic musical adventure. Continue reading
There’s something romantic and cinematic about adopted New Jersey (via Norway) songwriter Luke Elliot’s third album, Let ‘em All Talk (Icons Creating Evil Art) over and above the wistful storytelling. ‘I (Who Have Nothing)’, all film-noir meets spaghetti western vibes with its orchestral flecks, feels torn from an as-yet-unwritten Tarrantino follow-up to Django Unchained, or perhaps the lead single to the debuting next James Bond, while ‘William Tell’ could have been one of the musical interludes from Black Mariah’s club in Luke Cage (Netflix version).
“Progressive rock” is a term that can encompass a wide variety of sounds. At one point or another in their 35-year history, Porcupine Tree — the brainchild of Steven Wilson — have probably touched upon most of these. Having put out several albums of electronica-infused psychedelic space rock since their formation in 1987, the band reached a peak of critical and commercial success in the 2000s with the metal-influenced experimental songcraft exemplified by In Absentia and Fear of a Blank Planet. By the start of 2011, however, Porcupine Tree appeared to be no more, with Wilson announcing a hiatus to focus on his solo career; he stated as recently as 2018 that getting the band back together “would seem like a terribly backward step”.
Although 1976’s Technical Ecstasy (Vertigo/BMG) is unlikely to ever be viewed as a top tier release among most Black Sabbath fans, the fact that it exists at all goes to demonstrate the Birmingham foursome’s resilience and determination in those early days, if not the focus.
It would be an understatement to say that Steven Wilson’s sixth full-length album continues down the more commercialized path that was established on 2017’s To The Bone. While that album has ultimately proved to be a simplified variation of its predecessors in hindsight, The Future Bites opts for a very different approach as the guitars are downplayed and Pop and Electronica influences completely take over. It’s far removed from the Prog dog days of Porcupine Tree but also not unprecedented when you consider No-Man’s Synthpop side. Continue reading
Citing “unprecedented challenges”, progressive rock legend Steven Wilson has decided to delay his new album until 2021. The Future Bites was slated to arrive on June 12 through Caroline International. Now, the follow-up to 2017’s To The Bone will release on January 29. Recorded in London and co-produced by Wilson and David Kosten, while Wilson – in conjunction with Baby and Crystal Spotlight – created an online store designed to create a new experience for fans. Wilson posted a heartfelt message to fans in which you feel his devastation at this development:Continue reading
If there is one thing that recent Progressive Rock acts have done, it is once and for all putting to bed the notion of the genre being predominantly style over substance, with a reliance on over-playing as opposed to having heart. A completely unfair assessment from day one of course; even just a cursory listen to the contemporary Prog Rock leaders such as Riverside, Steven Wilson, and The Pineapple Thief shows both an unwavering sense of emotion and a balance of challenging yet accessible song structuring.Continue reading
The bastion of progressive, challenging and heavy music in the world, Kscope is celebrating ten years in business in 2018! Cheers! To help us celebrate, music industry veteran Simon Glacken of For The Lost PR has shared his favourite releases from the Kscope label.Continue reading