Steven Wilson – The Overview (2025)

I can't remember when this was recommended to me, but regular readers will know I'm a recent discoverer of the world of Wilson and Porcupine Tree, The new album received publicity, and I gave it a listen on Spotify, again and again and again.

I finally succumbed last week, in an out-of-character full price purchase in HMV in Liverpool.

All us prog kids who never grew out of it are suckers for a 'whole side of an LP' extended piece, and we're rewarded by Wilson with two of them on this album, and it's certainly the best new album I've heard this year. Apparently the music is based on The Overview Effect, which Wikipedia describes as "a cognitive shift caused by viewing the Earth from space", and it repeatedly juxtaposes the mundane with the astronomical.

First track Objects Outlive Us, starts with a minimal vocal intro, followed by a shifting monotonal vocal section before getting into the most accessible section (Objects: Meanwhile) a lovely song with lyrics from XTC's Andy Partridge, punctuated by the proggiest bass solo you'll ever hear. We then return via a variations on the earlier vocal sections, with some dreamy guitar work leading us to a conclusion.

The Overview starts with a hypnotic Tangerine Dream like theme, overlain with spoken examples of astronomical distance, followed by a lovely gentle acoustic piece, a couple of vocals and some stunning instrumental, growing to a fantastic crescendo, ending with a gently relaxing conclusion featuring a spacey sax contribution from Theo Travis.

It's just a wonderful 40 minutes of fantastically varied and interesting music, as good as anything I've heard in a long, long time. It should be considered up there with Dark Side Of The Moon as a prog/art rock classic

Link to album tracks

5* - an absolutely stunning piece of 21st century prog