Porcupine Tree
Closure/Continuation

We seriously thought we had definitively lost Porcupine Tree after "The Incident," and there were several clues to support this. In the last decade, Steven Wilson dove headfirst into his solo career, producing great albums and always speaking about Porcupine in a very vague and doubtful manner. First, there were rumors of a probable new album in 2012/13, then talk of an indefinite hiatus, and then even that the band no longer existed. I lost hope, especially seeing a good chunk of Porcupine's repertoire included in the setlist of the "To the Bone" tour, and consequently in the "Home Invasion" DVD recorded at the Royal Albert Hall; I thought, "okay, if he's playing a lot of songs from his historic band on his solo tour, it means it's really over, if he takes those songs and makes them his own, it means he won't propose them with his band anymore" (to draw a commercial comparison, it's what Max Pezzali did with 883's songs). Adding to this was the enlistment of Gavin Harrison in Pineapple Thief, which feels like a free agent taken on a free transfer. Then the statement that perks everyone's ears, "Porcupine Tree could return at any moment," and shortly after... the social announcement: Porcupine Tree will return with a new album in June. However, they do so with a trio lineup, Wilson-Barbieri-Harrison, with bassist Colin Edwin mysteriously left out (the mystery would later be unveiled by Wilson himself), with Wilson personally playing all the bass parts.

What should we expect from this "Closure/Continuation"? If you're a fan of Porcupine and especially love the second part of the group's career, you can relax. The post-prog and alternative electroacoustic setup persists, with sounds at times very delicate and at times edgier but never truly clear, Porcupine have never loved bright, glittery, or worse sugary sounds; in general, there's still a desire to break away from the classic symphonic prog and neo-prog compositions. There continue to be (or almost) no standout instrumental sections or pronounced virtuosity despite a solid technical foundation; the exception in this regard is always the supreme drummer Gavin Harrison, the technical element of the band and the only one who can afford to show off some virtuosity but without ever distorting the rather composed approach of the songs. And once again, the traditional showy keyboards are missing in favor of the extremely accurate and barely audible effects of Richard Barbieri (as far as I'm concerned, one of the elements that drew me to them the most). Everything seems quite normal, and there's nothing strange about it, after all, it's quite old material, composed repeatedly since 2011.

However, even those expecting a renewal and some fresh ideas will not be disappointed. There are some differences from the albums that marked the 2000s for the group, even if they might not be immediately apparent. For instance, you can notice a significant reduction in those hard and metal elements that characterized the last 3-4 albums, which had made the band lean towards hard prog or even progressive metal. "Rats Return" and "Herd Culling" are still quite hard (the latter is decidedly metal), the rest significantly less so.

But this is not the most significant difference, certainly not as much as the bass lines. During a jam with Gavin Harrison where Steven Wilson had access to a bass but not a guitar, he realized how much he could contribute as a bassist. Furthermore, the complete lack of contact and relationships with bassist Colin Edwin made him think that he himself could be the ideal bassist for the new album. Well, he was right; accustomed to the hypnotic and barely audible style of Edwin with Wilson as bassist, there are innovations in this aspect. Wilson plays in a more metallic, energetic, and varied manner; I don't think we would have had the first minutes of "Harridan," that kind of solo in "Dignity," or the continuous seesaw of "Chimera's Wreck" with Edwin. It's precisely the case where the substitute outperforms the starter; it happened roughly like in the AC Milan defense, with full-back Kalulu being moved to the center and performing better than the starter Kjær, stealing his spot.

Not to mention the surprises on the keyboards/synth front. Barbieri's hermetic style, as mentioned, is largely reconfirmed, but there are certainly some unusual and decidedly less hermetic gems: the warm electronic loops in "Harridan" aren't an everyday affair, nor are the electronic calculator-style effects of "Herd Culling"; needless to say, no one would have expected a track like "Walk the Plank," which is a true dive into electronics, the most experimental and daring kind, with sounds that dart from all sides but remain mysterious and abyssal overall. But I wouldn't have expected the sweet and melodic synth passages in the middle of "Dignity" either, which have an unusual neo-prog flavor for Porcupine; I might have expected them in a Marillion track instead.

But let's take an overview of the tracks to better understand what to expect from this highly anticipated work. The "regular" tracks are 7, and we can say that 4 of them align quite well with expectations but offer some new and interesting insights, while the other 3 are true surprises. As already mentioned, the two that most align with Porcupine's recent trajectory are "Rats Return" and "Herd Culling"; these are the ones that truly preserve the hard prog spirit of the recent period, where the riffs are dark just right, but they are also where Barbieri does his best work, where he plays best with effects, and where his typical effect showcase emerges best. Also consistent with predictions are "Dignity" and "Of the New Day"; the former is a classic slow and expansive track, taking up a calm rhythm and dragging it through the entire track, playing well with electric and acoustic riffs and using keyboards mainly for melodic finishing; the latter is drier and more compressed, we could call it "the pop track of the album," it's that light and fresh song that presents itself with simplicity without overdoing it (Wilson, however, highlighted how behind this simplicity lies a complex alternation of rhythms, let's say it's a bit like what was observed in various tracks from Dream Theater's "Octavarium," the apparent simplicity hiding complexity); we could say that both tracks hearken more to the group's intermediate phase, the explicitly more melodic and refined one that manifested, for example, in "Stupid Dream" and "Lightbulb Sun."

However, the other three tracks breathe a real dose of freshness. Already from the first "Harridan": honestly, I never expected to deal with a handful of initial minutes centered on such a bold and pounding bass, nor, probably, the tribal-like percussion in the middle section and the already mentioned electronic loops. Already stated what’s necessary about "Walk the Plank," which truly is the surprise track par excellence, the least Porcupine track of the bunch. Honestly, though, "Chimera's Wreck" is also a rather unusual composition for the group when you think about it; fundamentally, it gives the impression of being a track more faithful to solo Wilson: Porcupine Tree compositions never articulate with certain dynamism, they don’t offer noteworthy instrumental escapes, they don’t offer particular crescendos in intensity, as previously mentioned, they refuse the classic prog composition; here, instead, all this is present, starting with soft acoustic arpeggios but with a bright melody, first slower then faster (and already these aren't very familiar), then the track constantly grows in speed and intensity like a true prog track, with guitar and especially bass scales, where Wilson thoroughly covers the fretboard without too many qualms; if you add the marginal role of Barbieri (who gives up his classic effects and layers) to this, you conclude that it might have been more suitable on a Wilson solo album, a structure similar to what I’ve found in tracks like "The Watchmaker" or "Ancestral," and in general, Wilson's compositions are more daring from a purely instrumental point of view; however, I like it this way, it would have fit well in "The Raven that Refused to Sing" but the fact that it is on a Porcupine album is intriguing, it's not new for Wilson but it is for Porcupine Tree.

In general, though, the feeling is that Wilson has made use of his solo experiences to bring some features into his historic band, the album seems somewhat generally influenced by it, the feeling is like facing a classic second-phase Porcupine Tree album with that extra touch of solo Wilson's courage.

Then, don't neglect the three bonus tracks of the digital edition, which don't seem to be bland leftovers (as bonuses often are). "Population Three" is an instrumental worthy of their name, a sort of "Wedding Nails" but less harsh, with a nice groove and once again rather unusual keyboard accents. "Never Have" is a refined pop track that takes us into Blackfield territories. Perhaps "Love in the Past Tense" doesn't particularly shine, not knowing where to go or what kind of track it wants to be, and seems a somewhat jumbled collection of ideas united together but not properly developed, yet still a dignified medley.

This return was truly needed from a band that still had things to say. Who knows if it will be closure or continuation (the title isn't random, it's there to pose the question), certainly not closure of Wilson's career (who is already well along with work on his next solo project), but after this album, I really hope that, using fashion magazine language, Porcupine Tree are back to stay.