Label: Music For Nation / Sony
Release date: June 24, 2022
Production: Steven Wilson
Album length: 48:02 min
Genre: Progressive Rock
Rating: 9.5/10
The titans of modern progressive rock, Porcupine Tree, are back after almost thirteen years with a new studio album called »Closure/Continuation«. The loaded title is a play on words about the riddle of their near future. Whether they’ll wrap up or carry on their hugely successful musical story once the tour supporting the new album is over was something they hadn’t decided yet when »Closure/Continuation« came out.
In the meantime, between 2009 and 2021, with Porcupine Tree off the active music scene, their boss, the ‘multi-talented’ composer, producer, guitarist, keyboardist and singer Steven Wilson, built himself a fantastic solo career, and he never seemed to be in any hurry to revive the cult band that spent past decades wowing us with prog rock classics like »Stupid Dream« (1999), »Lightbulb Sun« (2000), »In Absentia« (2002), »Deadwing« (2005) and »Fear Of a Blank Planet«, to name just a few of the standout studio achievements from their colorful career. Drumming oddball Gavin Harrison became a member of King Crimson and The Pineapple Thief during that period, polishing his astonishing drumming technique even further, while keyboardist Richard Barbieri, who also once dazzled as a member of Japan, kept busy with various solo and side projects.
The band, which never officially broke up and was merely in temporary ‘hibernation’, lost longtime bassist Colin Edwin before the new album was recorded, which means Porcupine Tree are now a trio. That’s a relatively rare setup in progressive rock, but some other cult prog bands have been three-piece either throughout their whole run (Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Rush, for example) or just for a certain period (Genesis, Pink Floyd, Van der Graaf Generator), so it’s not exactly a shocking change. Steven played all the bass lines himself, which was no big feat for him. Despite the apparent inactivity, Wilson, Harrison and Barbieri were slowly working on a new album during the official downtime, and it ‘saw the light of day’ about eight months after Porcupine Tree announced their return ‘from the dead’ at the end of October 2021.
The first half of the album is steeped in a distinctly dark and melancholic atmosphere, while later on that vibe, so typical of Porcupine Tree, gets a bit less pronounced and slightly more optimistic. On every track of the new album, Steven and company prove they’re unmatched when it comes to building an incredibly intense atmosphere that doesn’t let up from the first minute to the last. Anyone who feared that Porcupine Tree would wade into commercial waters after their return and start toying with pop and electronics, like Steven did on his last two solo outings, can breathe easy, because that’s not the case. They’ve also toned down the metal elements in their music considerably, since Steven got sick of them long ago. That makes this their least hard-hitting album in the last twenty years, but that’s far from saying there are no distorted guitars and thundering drum barrages on individual tracks.
»Harridan«, which opens with prominent bass lines, came out as the lead single ahead of »Closure/Continuation«, giving us a first peek at the new album. Fans were instantly calmed down, if not thrilled, on hearing it, because it’s a very solid track built in that recognizable Porcupine Tree style. The way into the chorus will remind quite a few people of Opeth’s more recent work, a band Steven has a fair few ties with. »Of the New Day«, the second single from the album, which also has a few psychedelic moments, is stylistically the closest thing on the album to Porcupine Tree’s work from the turn of the millennium, that is, the era of the albums »Stupid Dream« and »Lightbulb Sun«. It opens as a romantic ballad with a nostalgic vocal performance, instantly conjuring up the evergreen »Lazarus« from the album »Deadwing«, until it shifts into a punchy instrumental section.
»Rats Return«, the third single, is ‘dedicated’ to Steven’s post-Brexit depression and to populist politicians of the modern, clownish variety, who always promise the people castles in the sky while all they really care about is their own backside and insatiably grabbing for cash. It’ll remind many of some of the creations from Steven’s solo catalog from before he drifted into more pop-rock and electronic waters, even though it’s yet another composition in the classic Porcupine Tree style, with an equal measure of ‘old-school’ progressive rock and progressive metal. The backing vocal harmonies in the background deepen the ever-present, anxious mood even further, which sits in perfect harmony with the lyrics.
»Dignity« is an exceptionally rich ambient treat with female vocal harmonies in the background, and it won’t leave any longtime Porcupine Tree fan cold. »Herd Culling«, the fourth single, has pronounced, fat bass lines, which Steven uses to remind us that over the years he hasn’t just become an ambitious guitarist, but also finds his way around the bass like a pro. The lyrics, about rednecks heading into the barns armed with double-barreled shotguns, were inspired by paranormal phenomena said to have happened on a ranch in the US state of Utah. »Walk the Plank«, soaked in a mysterious vibe, features plenty of electronic samples and, interestingly, no guitars at all, but it still comes off very well, with its synchronized trading off of melancholic vocal harmonies and psychedelic-tinged instrumental sections.
»Chimera’s Wreck«, an epic masterpiece with a typically dark, melancholic opening section and a punchier second half, inspired by the death of Steven’s father, is right up there with the best things in Porcupine Tree’s history so far. Longtime fans will also be delighted by the familiar backing vocal harmonies, which recall some of the highlights from their most revered period at the end of the last century and the start of this one. Steven, who also has some fun with falsetto vocal ranges along the way, proves that over the last few years he’s climbed to yet another level as a singer.
Considering we’re talking about Porcupine Tree, it’s no surprise that all three bonus tracks are every bit as good as the ‘regular’ »Closure/Continuation« material. »Population Three« is a fantastic, astonishingly melancholic instrumental that at moments, thanks to certain guitar phrases and some drum transitions, slightly recalls some of Rush’s work, but in every other sonic respect it’s an unmistakable Porcupine Tree creation.
»Never Have«, laced with a melodramatic atmosphere and nostalgic guitar-and-keyboard harmonies, wins you over mainly with some ‘old-school’ prog elements, with which Steven reminds us that Camel remain one of his favorite bands. »Love in the Past Tense«, which puts the emphasis on acoustic guitar passages and romantic multi-part vocals, is another interesting experiment. Even though Steven married his chosen one, Rotem, in 2019, putting an end to plenty of speculation about his carefully guarded private life, his poetry continues to be socially critical and in many ways sarcastic, i.e. with no ear for any (potentially clichéd) outpourings of love.
Porcupine Tree lived up to the huge expectations and made sure »Closure/Continuation« became not only the most anticipated prog rock album in recent memory, but also one of the top contenders for album of the year 2022. The only (lukewarm) criticism of Porcupine Tree’s recent successful reunion is that the band released four of the seven tracks as singles before »Closure/Continuation« came out, joining the unseemly practice of some modern bands that reveal more than half an album before it’s even released. Those who resisted temptation and waited for the album were richly rewarded. The band’s future after the tour is for now ‘up in the air’, since Steven is currently leaning more toward »Closure/Continuation« being their final studio album than toward carrying on hanging out with his two old buddies. By his own account, he wants Porcupine Tree to wrap up the story in the best possible way. If so, they’ve absolutely nailed their goal, because »Closure/Continuation« is the best possible farewell for what is undoubtedly the most important, and perhaps also the best, prog rock band of the last three decades.
Author: Peter “Dr. ProgRock” Podbrežnik
Tracklist:
1. Harridan (8:08)
2. Of the New Day (4:43)
3. Rats Return (5:40)
4. Dignity (8:22)
5. Herd Culling (7:03)
6. Walk the Plank (4:27)
7. Chimera’s Wreck (9:39)
8. Population Three (6:52) *
9. Never Have (5:08) *
10. Love in the Past Tense (5:50) *
* … bonus tracks (‘deluxe’ version of the album)
Lineup:
Steven Wilson – vocals, guitar, bass guitar
Richard Barbieri – keyboards, synthesizers, sound processing
Gavin Harrison – drums, percussion
Guest musicians:
Lisen Rylander Löve – voice sample on track 4
Suzanne Barbieri – voice sample on track 4
