Originally expected in June 2020, The Future Bites, the sixth solo album from musical polymath Steven Wilson, was pushed back to a January 2021 release for obvious reasons. But as with nearly all of his output it's worth the wait, building on the change of style he brought on his previous record To The Bone, The Future Bites looks almost certain to alienate the fans that just want him to reform Porcupine Tree and prog rock out. Drawing heavily on electronic pop records from the 80's, he even makes a tongue-in-cheek reference to how much he's influenced by the decade on 12 Things I Forgot, probably the most 'Steven Wilson' song on the album, all layered acoustics, dramatic piano and clever lyrics. The record is bristling with repeating electronics, funky beats and yes some rock guitars, but of course there is a major sense of unpredictability here as you'd expect on a Steven Wilson record, with a real feeling of not knowing what is going to happen as the choppy, dare I say upbeat Self is counteracted by the thumping hip-hop beat of King Ghost.
It's this twosome that brings me to my next comparison. I mentioned that it may alienate Porcupine Tree fans but for my money, it's musically very close to those very first 'bedroom' PT recordings, as Wilson himself has called them 'The Delirium Years'. The Future Bites is very much Wilson reflecting on his early years and the soundtrack of that time. Whereas then he was very cynical and negative then, here is cynicism is tinged with optimism and curiosity, most of his ire aimed at the consumer culture we live in. Now if you've heard Personal Shopper this will be very obvious, the 9 minute track savagely stripping down the consumer culture, with a pulsating dark electronic backing. On Personal Shopper to the mid-song coda comes from Sir Reginald Dwight himself reading a list of high class goods counterpointed with various 'selfs'. It sounds surreal but works extremely well, the King of Excess himself on a song against it. This attack on consumerism has be parodied by the marketing campaign for the record where various fake companies and brands were set up to link to the records promotion.
Back to the music and Eminent Sleaze is a modern Stax classic, full of big backing vocals from vocalists Wendy Harriot, Bobbie Gordon, and Crystal Williams, while Man Of The People a more dreamlike state. The all have that unmistakable yearning falsetto vocal and the multi-instrumentalism, though he's not alone here with long term bass player Nick Beggs, keyboardists Adam Holzman and Richard Barbieri, drummer Michael Spearman and even EDM artist David Kosten (aka Faultline) all flexing their musical muscles. Final track Count Of Unease does instill a sense of exactly that but it is a cathartic close to this record which once again substantiates why Steven Wilson can be recognised as one of the most entertaining artists the UK has produced, a worthy successor to the Art Rock/Pop acts like King Crimson, Peter Gabriel, XTC, Roxy Music, Tears For Fears and even bands such as Radiohead. The Future Bites but the present is oh so brilliant. 9/10
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