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█ Steven Wilson - The Future Bites
█░
█▓ ------------------------------------------------------------------
│█▓
│██ Artist : Steven Wilson
██ Album : The Future Bites
██ Year : 2021
▓█
▓█ ------------------------------------------------------------------
│██
│██ Genre : Progressive Rock Quality : 252kbps avg/441kHz/Joint Stereo
│██ Source : CD Size : 80.52 Mb
│██ Encoder : LAME 64bits version Language : English
:██ Cat. Nr : CAROL021CD Label : Caroline International
│██
│█▓ ------------------------------------------------------------------
│██
│▓█ Release date: 2021-01-28 Retail date: 2021-01-29
│██
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1. Unself 1:05 ██
2. Self 2:55 ██
3. King Ghost 4:06 ██
4. 12 Things I Forgot 4:42 ██
5. Eminent Sleaze 3:53 ██
6. Man of the People 4:42 ██
7. Personal Shopper 9:49 ██
8. Follower 4:39 ██
9. Count of Unease 6:08 ██
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Total Runtime: 41:59 █▓
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██ ░▄
██│ Steven Wilson has long been one of the most distinguished and
██│ adventurous, yet heavily scrutinized, artists in modern art/progressive
██│ rock. Be it the harsher trajectory of Porcupine Tree's 2000s output,
██│ the avant-garde nature of 2012's Storm Corrosion, or the
██│ unpredictability of past few solo LPs, each new release sees fans
██│ sanctimoniously declaring how much or how little it fits into what they
██│ want Wilson to do. Ironically, though, it's precisely Wilson's hunger
██│ and willingness for challenging reinvention that makes him a
██│ "progressive" musician, and The Future Bites is no different.
██│
██│ Specifically, it sees him embracing his well-documented affection for
██│ 1980s synthpop and electronic music more than ever before. Even soùand
██│ as alwaysùthat doesn't mean that the record is an anomaly within his
██│ catalog. Instead, everything Wilson does on The Future Bites feels like
██│ a refreshing yet logical follow-up to 2017's To the Bone. (Devotes, in
██│ particular, should recognize that he's been hinting at these stylistic
██│ choices since he recorded On the Sunday of Life and Up the Downstair in
██│ his bedroom studio roughly 30 years ago.)
██│
██│ Along the way, several familiar names join him, including bassist Nick
██│ Beggs, keyboardists Adam Holzman and Richard Barbieri, EDM maestro
██│ David Kosten (aka Faultline), drummer Michael Spearman, vocalists Wendy
██│ Harriot, Bobbie Gordon, and Crystal Williams, and even Sir Elton John.
██│ Admittedlyùand also ironicallyùthe album's continuation of social
██│ commentaries regarding technology, consumerism, social media, and the
██│ like do come across as a tad well-worn by now. Plus, its occasionally
██│ on-the-nose lyricism and purposely cold/empty arrangements make The
██│ Future Bites somewhat vapid and unsubstantial compared to his previous
██│ solo work. Nevertheless, it's a generally bold, captivating, and
██│ fulfilling statement as only Wilson could create, resulting in another
██│ testament to his singular and invaluable brilliance.
██│
██│ As usual, Wilson delivers timeless singer/songwriter odes that are
██│ instantly engaging and resonant. For instance, the one-minute
██│ preludeù"Unself"ùis a claustrophobic dive into remoteness, sorrow, and
██│ introspection. Its foundational soliloquy, matched with its robotic and
██│ atmospheric coating, allows it to be simultaneously startling and
██│ identifiable, as it really wouldn't be out of place on something like
██│ Signify, Stupid Dream, or Insurgentes. Likewise, "12 Things I Forgot"
██│ harkens back to his many acoustic guitar treks concerning nostalgia,
██│ self-actualization, and similar subject matter. Closer "Count of
██│ Unease" is a poignantly arresting and understated confession that's
██│ right in line with past Wilson finales. It doesn't reach the remarkable
██│ heights of, say, "Collapse the Light Into Earth", "The Raven That
██│ Refused to Sing", "Happy Returns", or "I Drive the Hearse", but it
██│ accomplishes a similarly haunting aftermath while achieving its own
██│ identity.
██│
██│ Elsewhere, the glitzier, sharper, and more rhythmic stuff still clearly
██│ carries Wilson's DNA. "Self" is kind of like a more danceable sibling
██│ to past tracks such as "Detonation" and "People Who Eat Darkness",
██│ whereas the abundantly programmed "King Ghost" is a more surreal and
██│ unsettling offshoot of "To the Bone" and "Transience". Granted, a
██│ couple of other tunes ("Eminent Sleaze" and "Follower") are too
██│ abrasively committed to overt sentiments and styles to be wholly
██│ enjoyableùlacking sufficient lyrical nuance and melodic intrigueùbut
██│ they nonetheless radiant a unique vision regardless. As for the
██│ flamboyant "Personal Shopper", it'll delight or dismay depending on how
██│ much the listener likes To the Bone's highly polarizing "Permanating".
██│ The flaws mentioned above are here as well, but its angelic chorus is
██│ downright irresistible, and Elton John's narration is an automatically
██│ cool touch.
██│
██│ The Future Bites sees Wilson doing what he's always done: amendùrather
██│ than abandonùwho he is as a one-of-a-kind musician and keen
██│ sociopolitical observer. His primary goal has always been to test and
██│ satisfy himself as an artist, which inherently means that he may gain
██│ and lose fans with each subsequent statement. (The alternative would be
██│ for him to repeat himself safely, and that's no fun for anyone.) For
██│ many admirersùmyself includedùit'll be his weakest solo record, but
██│ that's only because the rest are so terrific. Honestly, The Future
██│ Bites objectively deserves applause for perpetuating Wilson's integrity
██│ and creativity, even if it's a markedlyùand perhaps
██│ intentionallyùdivisive collection, too.
██
│▓█
│▓█
│██│
██│ URL: http://stevenwilsonhq.com/sw/
██│
██│
██│
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