Steven John Wilson's Blog, page 5

Tribute to Tim Smith

I am deeply saddened to read of the passing of Tim Smith from Cardiacs today. Even though Tim had been ill for many years, it’s still hard for me to think of him as gone, as his music made such a big impression on me, and continues to do so. He had one of the few truly unique sounds and musical personalities you could ever hope to hear, it was almost impossible to understand where his music came from and what his influences might have been. In that respect he was a true original, and like many other true originals he paid the price of being a cult artist, relatively under the radar for most of his career. But for those that ‘got’ Cardiacs they almost without exception went on to become their favourite band. A few years ago when Tim first became ill I contributed a cover version of one of his most beautiful compositions Stone Age Dinosaurs to an album released to raise funds for his medical care, and I would like to share it with you here as my eulogy to Tim.

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New Porcupine Tree EP Pure Narcotic out 11th September

Available on limited 180 gram coloured vinyl, the Pure Narcotic EP comprises PT’s final recordings to date. These songs were performed as a 5 song acoustic set at the band’s final show at the Royal Albert Hall in October 2010. When the Octane Twisted live album was put together in 2012, the plan was to include several recordings from the RAH show, but the acoustic set was found to have too many technical issues. Instead the band elected to make studio recordings of the songs the way they had been performed on the night. Unfortunately work was not completed in time to be included on the album after all, and the recording was shelved until release earlier this year on the official Porcupine Tree bandcamp page. Due to overwhelming demand they are now released on physical format for the first time.

PRE-ORDER NOW

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The Future Bites Tour September 2020 Cancelled

Due to the continued restrictions on public gatherings and in the interests of the safety and health of concertgoers, band, crew and everyone involved in putting on a live show, it is with great reluctance that I am forced to cancel the September 2020 live events I had previously announced. It would have been perhaps strange to have done these shows so far in advance of the delayed release of THE FUTURE BITES album anyway, but although the cancellation of these shows is not unexpected, it still comes as a great disappointment to me. I will have a further update on my live plans for you all very soon.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE REFER TO POINT OF PURCHASE.

UK: refunds for all shows will be issued from your point of purchase

Germany: Please hold on to your tickets. They will remain valid for concerts in 2021.

Poland: All information regarding our refund policy will be issued at the place of the tickets purchase.

Holland: Ticket holders will be contacted by email by their purchaser or if in doubt they should go to their point of purchase.

Italy: For voucher refund information please go to ticketone.it

France: Please hold on to your tickets, they will remain valid for concerts in 2021.  Any ticket holders who would prefer a refund, are advised to contact their point of purchase with 3 months.

SW

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New Steven Wilson & Tim Bowness podcast ‘The Album Years’

Today I’m launching a brand new podcast with my friend Tim Bowness, THE ALBUM YEARS, details below. The first episode, ‘1980’ is now available on all major podcasting platforms. Please let us know if you enjoy it in order to encourage us to do more!

On The Album Years podcast, long term friends, collaborators and music nerds Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness regularly meet online to discuss and bicker about their favourite music released during the golden album years, which they reckon to be from around 1965 to the end of the millennium. Each episode focuses on a single year picked at random. At the end of each episode they pick their personal favourites and the album they think had the most long-term impact on music. Can you guess which albums Steven and Tim will pick from 1980, and what would be your favourite albums from that year? Artwork by Hajo Mueller.

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Remix Personal Shopper

While THE FUTURE BITES has been delayed, I thought it would be fun to make available stems for my recent single PERSONAL SHOPPER to be remixed. The track seems to lend itself well to remixing, in fact there are already some interesting versions on YouTube (check out the Nine Inch Nails / Personal Shopper mash up below!) You can do a mix just for your own entertainment, but I’d also love it if you upload for me to listen to. All you need to do is register via the TFB website to get a download link for the stems. You can then submit your mix any time over the next month by filling out the form on the website and providing a Soundcloud link to your track (a full list of terms & conditions can be found on the TFB website). Once the closing date has passed I will choose my favourites and feature them on my Soundcloud page, here – soundcloud.com/steven-wilson

At this point everyone will be able to listen and vote for their favourites, with the top 3 then being featured across my social channels. I’m excited and curious to hear whatever you choose to do with the track! And the more creative the better – you might want to do something really experimental with it, or you may choose to focus on bringing out the accessible “pop” side of the song, all approaches welcome. Best of luck!

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The Future Postponed

As with many of my albums, The Future Bites is not just about the music, it’s a high concept project which involves design, artwork, video and a tour production, all on a grander scale than anything I’ve attempted before. However, due to the pandemic, there are unprecedented challenges, ranging from manufacturing issues (particularly in relation to the elaborate deluxe edition) and the uncertainty facing record stores as the coronavirus forces them to close their doors, to being unable to shoot most of the video material I planned.

It’s therefore with a very heavy heart that I reluctantly need to postpone the release of The Future Bites until such time everything can happen as intended. This will now be January next year, with new music and video starting to be issued again around October. In the meantime the pre-order page for the various editions of the album will remain online, although I plan to take the deluxe edition off the site some time before it completely sells out, in order to give fans simply not in a position to purchase at the moment a chance to get it nearer the time. Meanwhile, myself, management, agent and promoters are monitoring the situation regarding the live shows scheduled for this autumn. Should events change we will let everyone know as soon as we do.

I understand that this may be disappointing news, and to no one more that myself, believe me. I worked on the music and background of this project for the last two years and was thrilled to finally be able to launch it. The response to the Personal Shopper track released last month has been phenomenal, and I was looking forward to unveiling more over the next few months in the build up to the release of the album. But alas due to the current circumstances it was not to be.

I sincerely send everyone reading this a message of good health, and I hope that one day in the not too distant future we can once again focus on things like music, which even if it isn’t strictly essential seems to somehow make life more worthwhile.

SW x

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Porcupine Tree Bandcamp Store Launched

Porcupine Tree have launched a Bandcamp page where you can listen and download full resolution recordings of rare and unreleased rarities from beyond the band’s core record label releases. This has been a long time in the planning, and we do apologise for the poor timing, as we know this is a very difficult time for everyone, including us as musicians and our families. The upshot is that we have decided to go ahead and make the page live now as planned, but point out that there’s absolutely no rush to avail yourself of its contents, it will be around indefinitely and we aim to add more music to it over the coming months. In the meantime, if you are stuck at home and do feel like some extra-curricular PT music, here it is!

porcupinetreeofficial.bandcamp.com

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New SW album “THE FUTURE BITES” out 12th June 2020

Album out 12 th June 2020 via thefuturebites.com  

New track PERSONAL SHOPPER online everywhere now. 

Sunglasses… teeth whitener… deluxe-edition boxsets… volcanic ash soap… multivitamin supplements… noise-cancelling headphones… designer trainers… detox drinks… organic LED television… fake eyelashes… branded water… self-doubt… self-esteem… 

Steven Wilson’s new album THE FUTURE BITES is an exploration of how the human brain has evolved in the Internet era. As well as being Wilson’s phenomenal sixth album, THE FUTURE BITES is also an online portal to a world of high concept design custom built for the ultra-modern consumer. 

Where 2017’s To The Bone confronted the emerging global issues of post truth and fake news, THE FUTURE BITES places the listener in a world of 21st century addictions. It’s a place where on-going, very public experiments constantly take place into the affects of nascent technology on our lives. From out of control retail therapy, manipulative social media and the loss of individuality, THE FUTURE BITES is less a bleak vision of an approaching dystopia, more a curious reading of the here and now. 

Musically, THE FUTURE BITES gleams. Featuring gorgeous electronic sounds warped by human intervention (King Ghost), soaring acoustics that head straight upwards into the stratosphere (12 Things I Forgot), relentless bass-driven Motorik grooves (Follower) and swampish, murky funk (Eminent Sleaze), it is Steven’s most consistently brilliant work to date. The album was recorded in London and co-produced by David Kosten (Bat For Lashes, Everything Everything) and Steven Wilson. 

Online, THE FUTURE BITES is an open door to a world of purchase power where everything is marketable and nothing is too random to be put on sale. Inspired by such notable 21st century artefacts as the Virgil Abloh ceramic block and Vitality Air canned Canadian oxygen, The Future Bites is a fully designed consumer universe (built in collaboration with Baby and Crystal Spotlight)  that’s been designed to be accessible and addictive to anyone from the casual fan to the hardcore collector. 

The first track taken from the FUTURE BITES – the ten-minute long Moroder-esque tour de force PERSONAL SHOPPER– is online on all streaming platforms and via THE FUTURE BITES website now. 

THE FUTURE BITES features: 

UNSELF
SELF
KING GHOST
12 THINGS I FORGOT
EMINENT SLEAZE
PERSONAL SHOPPER
MAN OF THE PEOPLE
FOLLOWER
ANYONE BUT ME

Steven Wilson plays two previously announced UK shows in the autumn at Nottingham Arena (Thursday 17th September) and London’s O2 (Saturday 19th September). These are his biggest headline shows to date. 

www.thefuturebites.com

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SW End of Year Update 2019

So goodbye 2019 and cheerio to another decade. This was an amazing year for me thanks to the biggest and happiest event of my life, getting married to the love of my life and gaining 2 lovely step-daughters! And I want to once again thank everyone for the wonderful well wishes you sent our way.

If it seems like it was a quiet year for me professionally, rest assured I haven't stopped working. A new album is pretty much finished, so there will be a lot of news and information coming soon. As I'm sure most of you know I have already announced 8 arena shows in the UK, Germany, France, The Netherlands, Italy and Poland for next September. I'm doing something on a whole different scale this time, possibly something I'll never be able to do again! So if you like what I do, dare I say that these "event" shows are not to be missed.

These days most new artists apparently focus on finding a single song that will impact big on Spotify and YouTube, to the point that an album is often an afterthought or simply not released at all. And maybe these artists have the right idea - in this world ruled by the internet and social media, most people don't have the time or inclination to engage with a whole album, and playlist culture renders the flow of an album redundant anyway. But even if it's stylistically something different, as usual my new record is most definitely an album intended to be listened to as a sequence of songs, and I feel confident most of you are going to like it a lot.

One of the wonderful things about music and listening tastes is that they continue to evolve. A lot of rock fans claim music isn't as good or innovative as it used to be, and while I have to concede they're probably right, I think that's because the golden era for rock has passed and the real innovation is now happening in genres that don't focus on guitars, bass and drums (and I myself wonder what more there is left to say with these things, but I'm always happy to be proved wrong). This year one of the commercially successful songs I really liked was Bury a Friend by Billie Eilish - because it's brilliant, but also because the production was so sonically fresh. Maybe not surprising that it was recorded by someone not out of her teens to whom the era of classic rock music probably doesn't mean a lot.

Something that is a return to the "old days" is albums becoming shorter and more concise again. It seems most people don't have the time or patience to listen to long albums anymore (perhaps they never did, most of the acknowledged classic albums are around the 35-45 minute mark). Maybe this is the reason that at 35 minutes in length, the new no-man album Love You to Bits, our first album in more than 10 years, has been the best received we've made since our very early days when we were briefly the next big thing with the music press. I'm very proud of it, and I hope you enjoyed it, and most importantly when it ended after 35 minutes you wanted to put it on again, rather than feeling exhausted by it! Another album myself and Tim Bowness co-produced this year under the "no-man" guise was Tim's solo album Flowers at the Scene, a wonderful and eclectic record, and for me his best.

Way back in 2002, rock music was still a big deal, and that was the year that Porcupine Tree recorded and released In Absentia. Although the album wasn't so successful at the time, I'm happy to say it has since become a widely admired and influential album and has some of my best and most popular songs, so the forthcoming February release of a 4 disc deluxe edition of the album is timely. Alongside the remastered album, B-sides / EP tracks from the era, and a disc of demos and unrecorded songs, is a brand new 2 hour documentary by Lasse Hoile, and a beautiful book with copious notes, photos and a detailed essay by Stephen Humphries.

I was once again involved in several archival projects for other artists this year. One I'm very proud of is the massive 18 disc Tangerine Dream box set In Search of Hades, which covers the band's imperial 70's years on Richard Branson's Virgin label. It features copious unreleased jewels, including a previously unissued album from 1974 that for me is right up there with their best work. My remixes of classic albums by XTC, King Crimson and Jethro Tull also came out and were gratifyingly well received. Although I've not taken on any further remixing work while I've been occupied with my new record, there's still a backlog from the last few years, things that for whatever reason didn't get the green light, and at least one of these will finally be issued on vinyl in the Spring (news soon).

Other things that emerged this year were an archival vinyl EP of my previously unknown collaborative project from the late 80's / early 90's God, and 3 Bass Communion releases of both new and reissued music.

Finally a mention of a few things from this year that I really liked, with the usual caveat that what I heard or saw was only a tiny fraction of what came out, so feel free to suggest your own 2019 favourites; the movie Joker, the TV series Chernobyl, and new albums by Bill Callahan, Sunn O))), Floating Points, Raime, Thom Yorke, Swans, Jim O'Rourke, Lucy Rose, and Prince (the "new" album Originals).

Whichever holiday it is you are celebrating at this time of year I hope you have a great one, and my very best wishes for a wonderful 2020! I look forward to seeing you somewhere during the year. I thank you again for your continued support, you are the best! SW

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Porcupine Tree ‘In Absentia’ Deluxe Edition coming February 2020

The much anticipated deluxe edition of Porcupine Tree’s iconic 2002 album will be released on 21st February.

3CD/Blu-ray set featuring remastered stereo and 5.1 surround sound mixes, additional studio recordings, a disc of unreleased demos and a new feature length Lasse Hoile directed documentary, plus 100-page hardback book with exclusive content including photography by Lasse Hoile, Carl Glover, Richard Barbieri and John Blackford from the recording sessions, subsequent tour and more, extensive biographical liner notes and track-by-track commentary by Stephen Humphries, artwork drafts, and handwritten notes and lyrics.

PRE-ORDER HERE

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In Absentia was Porcupine Tree’s seventh studio album, first released in 2002, the first in a run of three albums that for many represent the pinnacle of the band’s artistic achievements. Not many albums can claim to have created a new genre, but with its fusion of metal, progressive rock, ambient textures, and acoustic singer-songwriter styled material, it became a blueprint for a generation of bands to come. It also represented a commercial breakthrough for the band, eventually going on to sell three times more than the band’s previous releases. In Absentia features many of Porcupine Tree’s most beloved songs, including Trains, The Sound of Muzak and Blackest Eyes. While not a formal concept album, many of the songs have common themes related to serial killers, youthful innocence gone wrong, and observations of the modern world, setting a template for many of songwriter Steven Wilson’s future songs.

This deluxe version of In Absentia provides an unrivalled insight into a seminal album. The first CD features Steven Wilson’s 2017 remaster, which has considerably less compression and limiting for a more dynamic listening experience.

The second CD includes all of the additional finished studio recordings the band made during the period. Collapse (intro), Drown With Me, Chloroform, and Meantime were all recorded during the album sessions in New York, while Futile and Orchidia come from the post-album promo-only Futile EP. Radio edits of Trains, Blackest Eyes and Strip the Soul are also included.

The third CD comprises over 70 minutes of demos recorded at Wilson’s home studio during the two years leading up to recording the album. Many of the selections differ from the final versions, with additional sections, alternate lyrics, and different arrangements. Also included are demos of three songs that were not subsequently recorded by the band, all released here for the first time: Imogen Slaughter, Watching You Sleep, and Enough.

The Blu-ray features the new master of the original stereo mix, the 5.1 surround sound mix created in 2003 by legendary engineer Elliot Scheiner, plus the audio from the second CD, all in high resolution audio. It also boasts a new 109-minute feature length documentary film directed by Lasse Hoile, chronicling the making of the album with interviews and archive footage.

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