Review: Porcupine Tree (Review By Matt Bladen)

Porcupine Tree - Closure/Continuation (Music For Nations)

 
Ok. Stay cool. Stay calm. Try to approach this like any other album.

My internal monologue was working overtime on the first listen to the new album by Porcupine Tree. This was a big moment 13 years in the making and the first recorded output of probably the most influential band I found when I was first discovering my own music. Having been brought up on classic rock such as Zeppelin/Free/Deep Purple/Status Quo along with disco by my mother, on my father's side it was prog bands such as Genesis, Pink Floyd, Peter Gabriel etc with World Music and New Age Music too. Long drives in hot leather seated cars engrained album such as Division Bell and US into my head meaning that when I started to discover my own music taste I was instantly drawn to bands that lived and died by the riff and ones who took a more introspective, cynical world view. 

Porcupine Tree were just the right band at the right time. As I hit my teens I became far more cynical and aware of the ways of the world so to have this group playing music that was simultaneously heavy and upbeat but also languished in misery was a real eye opener. I just admit I jumped on to the train with In Absentia but Deadwing, Fear Of Blank Planet and The Incident all were breathtaking. As I went back to listen to the earlier stuff I found new appreciation for bands that were kind of on the fringes of my listening habits such as King Crimson, Van Der Graaf Generator and the entire post-punk scene. 

Every time I saw the band and listened to an album I became a bit more in love with the Porcupine Tree ethos of doing exactly what you want, but still managing to make a great success of it. I'll admit I was gutted when the seemingly called it a day, and while Steven Wilson, Richard Barbieri, Gavin Harrison and Colin Edwin have gone on to do equally incredible things both solo and together, there's was still nothing quite like that unity of then together in this band. But slowly, silently against the back drop of Wilson solo tours Harrison joining The Pineapple Thief and Colin Edwin flexing his bass in ORK, without so much as hint that the band even existed anymore, Steven Wilson, Richard Barbieri and Gavin Harrison, were steadily writing and recording ideas for a return. 

A few hints were left on the website, the beast seemed to be stirring, eagle eyed fans found the business registry and not long after Closure/Continuation was announced. No Colin Edwin this time but 3/4 of that line up that stunned on Lava Records then were signed to Roadrunner of all places! Return with another set of indictments on our world. Delivered in their signature style with all the progressive/experimental soundscapes that PT has been so accustomed to.

But what does it actually sound like? Well strap in because here we go...

Firstly it's pretty much exactly what I would want from and album named Closure/Continuation, as the music contained within these 7 tracks continues in the style PT have been plugging since In Absentia, evocative synth soundscapes, a big whack of Hammond and Moog, plenty of hammered dulcimer, those keening, sneering, sarcastic vocals, expressive drumming and shifts between acoustic beauty and heavy metal ugliness. 

Opener Harridan when you think about it is the perfect first single for this record as it bring back all those sounds that were such a key part to the PT sound, but also became used by so many bands too. It's the beginning of a focused 48 minute record that makes it feel as if there hasn't been a 13 year gap and various other endeavours. Within the first minute of Harridan, you're embraced by the comforting feel of this being a Porcupine Tree record. The song itself is built on the dynamics, done well on tracks like Shallow from Deadwing. The throbbing jazz bass of scuttling into the jangling open guitar chords of the chorus, from there things become more reminiscent of earlier days as the haunting stripped back part kicking into a powerful instrumental middle eight where there's lots of flash but never too much self indulgence. 

Towards the end of Harridan we are brought full circle into that melodic chorus again as a single acoustic plays us out the propulsive opener seguing well into the softer style that makes up Of The New Day, a slower, more emotional song in from the dreamy euphoria of Gravity Eyelids style, a ghostlike vocal effects and a clean Telecaster twang evolving into a rockier break in the middle before were brought back into this dreamlike break in proceedings. It's Rats Return that ups the prog factor, the odd timed riff and constant style shifts drawing from the influences of bands such as King Crimson, as Wilson's lyrics decry those who only have their own self interest and ego in kind when doing anything despite claiming to be 'for the people' this political, cynical edge has always been what's drawn me to PT as I've said, but here it's in bold letters, the drumming of Harrison here a real highlight too. 

After two shorter numbers we go back into the 7 minute explorations with the beautifully, layered Dignity. Lushly composed it's got some dark subject matter, regarding homelessness, set against a the indulgent sound design techniques pioneered by Barbieri, and also the innovative synth programming of Wilson. These are omnipresent as they are in all PT songs but the brooding Herd Culling uses them to the best effect, making for an unnerving track where the shouts of "liar" accompanied by the distorted riffs are like flashes of anger. This feeling of unease is transferred on to the jerky electronics of Walk The Plank, a jazzy break in the heaviness that twitches and bleeps with an inherent post punk darkness. Bringing things to a close with yet more expressive, classic PT feeling prog is Chimera's Wreck, those poignant acoustics starting it out as the framework is established for another epic, that adds more layers of instruments and vocals, chopping and changing to again bring home that sense of consistency the album has in spades.

But wait there's more! With the special deluxe digital edition of the Closure/Continuation you get a full 60 Page PDF booklet with all of the information, liner notes, lyrics and background you could possibly want. There's also the full album in instrumental and three bonus B- Sides, Population Three is a compelling instrumental that leads us into the soaring poppy Never Have as the B-Sides end with Love In The Past Tense a glistening, arty ballad with a throbbing back beat, that evolves into spacial final part. I can see why they were not included on the main album as they don't quite fit with the 'vibe' but they stand as excellent tracks in their own right

Despite this being their first album in 13 years, Continuation/Closure feels as if Porcupine Tree have never been away, progressive music in the top 1% that had the hairs standing on end throughout. Emotionally distant? Yes. Cynical? Yes. Exactly why I love it! 10/10