Label: K-Scope
Release year: 2015
Production: Steven Wilson
Album length: 65.44
Genre: Progressive Rock / Art Rock
Of all of today’s progressive rock musicians, the multitalented genius Steven Wilson has surely done the most to promote and advance this long-unpopular musical movement. Ever since he shunted Porcupine Tree onto a ‘side track’ indefinitely after the album »The Incident« (2009), he has thrown himself into an equally prolific and ambitious solo career, which has so far yielded three excellent studio albums. His many side projects, his production work and his sonic makeovers of some prog rock classics, which successfully stir up interest in the golden years of progressive among younger listeners too, are just as invaluable contributions to the modern prog scene, where Steven has long since become the most important player and patron.
»Hand. Cannot. Erase« is Steven’s fourth solo album, and it marks a noticeable stylistic shift from its gloomy predecessor »The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Short Stories)« (2013). The atmosphere is less dark, though, as is typical for Wilson, it’s still an unmistakably melancholic affair with plenty of contemplative moments. Stylistically there’s much less emphasis on jazz, partly thanks to the absence of woodwind player Theo Travis (Soft Machine Legacy, Gong), while Steven flirts repeatedly with pop rock, elements of electronic music, prog metal and the symphonic progressive rock of the seventies.
Except for Travis, who this time appears only as a guest on the track »Happy Returns«, where the cult drummer Chad Wackerman (ex-Frank Zappa) also guests, Steven managed to keep the whole backing band from the previous album. They remain loyal to him on the live tours too, and the lineup is made up of musical virtuosos like the cult bassist/Chapman Stick player/backing vocalist Nick Beggs (Kajagoogoo, Steve Hackett), the guitar oddball Guthrie Govan (The Aristocrats, ex-Asia), the drumming maniac Marco Minnemann (The Aristocrats, Joe Satriani) and the highly regarded jazz keyboardist Adam Holzman (best known as a session player who has worked with Miles Davis, among others). A lineup like this allows the tireless musical workaholic Wilson, who, besides singing, playing guitar and keyboards, producing and composing, naturally wrote all the lyrics too, to realize his highly ambitious ideas to the fullest, and »Hand. Cannot. Erase« is anything but short on those.
Like its predecessor, »Hand. Cannot. Erase« is a concept album, but this time it’s inspired by the true story of Joyce Carol Vincent (1965-2003). Most of the tracks tell the harrowing story of a young woman who lived in London and suddenly ‘vanished’. She abruptly quit her job and cut off all contact with the outside world (reportedly because of domestic violence). Nobody noticed her disappearance (and later death), not even after almost three years, even though she was beautiful, popular and had lots of (apparently fake) friends. Neither the sound of a TV left on around the clock nor the terrible stench spreading from her flat was enough to make anyone knock on her door. Only unpaid bills and taxes finally got people to break into the flat, where they found what was left of her body (a skeleton), surrounded by unopened Christmas presents (the exact cause of death is still unclear). It’s one more eloquent testament to the brutality and perversity of modern neoliberal society, where the ‘only eternal things’ are taxes and death.
Wilson got the idea for the »Hand. Cannot. Erase« concept after watching the drama-documentary »Dreams of a Life«, which tells the story of Vincent’s life. He then changed the life story of his concept’s protagonist a bit, giving her Italian roots and a younger sister. It’s good to know he’s still a biting social critic and keeps a high level of empathy for those who’ve been ground up by the machinery of modern society.
Among the album’s best moments, which is, in true Steven fashion, stuffed to the brim with Mellotron, is without a doubt the ten-minute treat »3 Years Older«. It’s loaded with elements of symphonic prog rock and prog metal, and the virtuosos all get plenty of room to stretch out instrumentally right in the opening section. The title track, with its harrowing message, is an interesting detour into pop rock, which isn’t unusual at all for Steven, who wrote quite a few similar songs with pop charm in his Porcupine Tree days. On »Perfect Life«, where the spoken word comes from the well-known Welsh mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins, Wilson plays with ambient elements of electronic music, while one of the album’s strongest moments is the dark »Routine«, which tells of the daily routine of an exhausted, depressed woman who lost a child in a school shooting. Here Steven is harmoniously joined on lead vocals by a special guest, the Israeli singer Ninet Tayeb.
»Home Invasion« is a potent mix of jazz fusion, new wave and psychedelia, where all the musicians involved get lots of space for colorful improvisations. Also worth highlighting is the epic »Ancestral«, which runs over thirteen minutes and is the artistic climax of the whole album, and where Mr. Wilson once again shows off his many diverse musical influences. »Ascendant Here On…« is a typical Wilson album closer, where a bittersweet mix of nostalgia and melancholy finally takes over during the chorus.
Steven Wilson remains the guiding light of modern progressive rock even after the excellent »Hand. Cannot. Erase«, where, while blending a whole range of musical influences, he uses a moving concept to deliver some very welcome and refreshing ideas. There’s really no reason to be surprised, because the master stays the master, with a top-notch crew of musicians assisting him all the way. The album, which will undoubtedly land among the main contenders for prog record of the year, holds some of the most powerful messages of his career so far. Steven’s somewhat controversial decision to make Porcupine Tree, whom he will almost certainly revive one day, just one of his side projects, and to put his solo career first after the unexpected success of »The Raven That Refused to Sing«, saddened many people, if not outright angered them. But he knows exactly where his artistic heart is right now, and as long as he keeps making albums as good as »Hand. Cannot. Erase«, there’s no reason at all to be in a bad mood.
author: Peter Podbrežnik
rating: 10 / 10
Track list:
1. First Regret (2:01)
2. 3 Years Older (10:18)
3. Hand Cannot Erase (4:13)
4. Perfect Life (4:43)
5. Routine (8:58)
6. Home Invasion (6:24)
7. Regret #9 (5:00)
8. Transience (2:43)
9. Ancestral (13:30)
10. Happy Returns (6:00)
11. Ascendant Here On…(1:54)
Line-up:
Steven Wilson – lead vocals, guitar, Mellotron, keyboards, bass guitar, banjo, hammered dulcimer, programming, effects
Guthrie Govan – guitar
Nick Beggs – bass guitar, Chapman Stick, backing vocals)
Adam Holzman – keyboards
Marco Minnemann – drums
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Dave Gregory – guitar (tracks 2, 3 and 10)
Chad Wackerman – drums (6)
Ninet Tayeb – vocals (5 and 9)
Theo Travis – flute and baritone saxophone (9)
Katherine Jenkins – spoken word (4)
Leo Blair – solo vocals (5)
Schola Cantorum Of The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School – choir (5, 10 and 11)
London Session Orchestra – orchestral arrangements (9 and 10)
