Steven Wilson

It's hard not to approach a new Steven Wilson album without high expectations and a touch of wariness. Over the course of his solo career, he has accustomed his audience — which in the meantime has expanded well beyond fans of Porcupine Tree — to records that are wildly different from one another, in keeping with his own notion of progressive music: one that keeps constantly reinventing itself, as opposed to the old-school prog of the 1970s to which it owes so much.
These are useful premises to bear in mind when approaching the London artist's new record, “Requiem For A Village” (out November 6), previewed at a listening party on October 5 in Rome, in the screening room of the Soho House. Given its nature — a four-star hotel in the university district near La Sapienza — the venue's lobby saw two very different kinds of people pass through: the hotel's own guests, whose wealth was evident from their outfits and from conversations about newly purchased Ferraris, and Wilson's diehard fans, most of them carrying records for their idol to sign. To get in, they'd had to buy the new album on vinyl for around 45 euros — but they would have done so regardless.

The screening room, equipped with a Dolby Atmos system that honours Wilson's obsession with sound quality, is located on the eighth floor and can be reached either by queuing for one of three lifts or by climbing the stairs — the option chosen by the daredevils hoping to save time and grab the best seats. There was no need to rush, though, since the room only seats 42, with comfortable chairs and footrests.
Walking in, it's immediately clear that the mood has shifted: nothing like the screening of “The Overview“, his previous album, at the Cinema Barberini. This is a far more intimate setting, oddly in tune with the themes and sounds of the new record. On the sofas, listeners found two souvenirs from the prototype village at the heart of the work: a coaster for a supposed local beverage, and a postcard.
That feeling was confirmed by Steven Wilson himself, who entered through a door up above, greeting the room with a cheerful “hello, hello, hello” as he came down the stairs to take his place in front of the screen. The Porcupine Tree leader described the album as “completely different from the last one,” but above all as “cinema for the ears,” which is why he asked everyone to listen in total darkness. It was the right call: it felt like closing your eyes while keeping them open, as mind and imagination were transported straight into the village.

But let's get to the album itself. The impression many listeners may have formed from the two singles already released — the title track and the sixth song on the tracklist, “On Chapel Slope“ — was that the former was one of the album's centrepieces and the latter more of a transitional piece, one that would make more sense heard within the context of the whole story. And indeed, it's a journey that, once begun, is hard to interrupt. More virtuosic, proggy songs — like the title track itself — alternate with genuine sonic and emotional journeys, such as the wonderful “Now Departing” or the galloping “Murmuration”. The overall impression is of rediscovering the Steven Wilson of “Grace For Drowning“, with the melancholy and gloom of “The Raven That Refused To Sing” and the metal riffs of the last Porcupine Tree album before the definitive solo turn, “The Incident“.

On his ninth solo album, Wilson has tried his hand at practically every one of his influences: from the more classic, jazz-leaning prog of “Grace For Drowning” and “The Raven That Refused to Sing”, through the concept album “Hand.Cannot.Erase.” and the flirtation with pop on “To The Bone” and “The Future Bites“, all the way to this latest rock opera — an aspect underscored by the connecting narration between certain chapters, read by actor David Tennant. “Requiem For A Village” also becomes the crowning statement of Wilson's more singer-songwriter-ish side, even though almost nothing remains here of the electro-pop turn marked by “The Future Bites” or the space-rock atmospheres of “The Harmony Codex” and “The Overview”.

Since “To The Bone”, “Requiem For A Village” is perhaps the only record that's immediately enjoyable on first listen and that also gives the sense it will keep growing on you the more you listen — strictly all the way through, multiple times. Maybe it was his presence in the room, maybe it was the total darkness — spoiled for a few seconds here and there by the odd boomer flipping open their phone case with the screen brightness cranked all the way up — or maybe it was the intimate, hushed atmosphere, but it seems unlikely this verdict will change. This is also an album that likely cements the permanent addition to the lineup of guitarist Randy McStine, already on tour with Porcupine Tree and regarded by Wilson as one of the most sound-quality-conscious musicians around, and Russell Holzman, son of keyboardist Adam, who turns in excellent drum work throughout — never excessive, always entirely in service of the ethereal melodies of this conceptual journey.
When an album like this comes to an end, exactly what Wilson predicted while reading a prepared text off his phone actually happens: you feel like you're part of the village, and, as “On Chapel Slope” makes clear, once you're in, there's no getting out. You become part of the community, and then, once you die, part of that same community's landscape. And yet, amid this bittersweet feeling, amid the unease that dominates from beginning to end, there's also a sense of hope — a trait common to all of Wilson's best work.

Porcupine Tree are missed, and perhaps always will be. Gavin Harrison has said in an interview that that chapter isn't over yet; Steven Wilson has talked about at least two or three years before a new album arrives, which could be preceded by a new chapter of Storm Corrosion, his side project with Opeth leader Mikael Åkerfeldt. We'll see. In the meantime, albums like this one make the wait a lot more enjoyable.

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