Some musicians hold a special place in my heart, one good example is prog metal master Steven Wilson. In October 2021, I made a broadcast in Clubhouse Metal Oda on Steven entitled “The Genius of Steven Wilson” where we explored his music through the years. Steven was nominated for 2022 Grammy Awards at the end of November: this was when I started to write this article. Many familiar faces in Rock & Metal genre are nominated for 2022 Grammy Awards in different categories: those who come immediately to my mind are Gojira, AC/DC, Mastodon, Dream Theater, Deftones and Rob Zombie. When I checked Wilson’s nomination, I was surprised to find out it was in Production-Best Immersive Audio category and not in song writing. So, here it would be appropriate to dive a little bit into Immersive Audio.
What the hell is Immersive Audio?
The favorite sound technology of movies and video gaming, the Immersive Audio might be thought as a further developed Surround Sound. In Immersive Audio, the sound is designed to originate from an endless number of audio sources, not only from a fixed point such as left or right. Compared to traditional Surround Sound, it places the listener in a wider audio field. As in the meaning of the term, the listener is “immersed” in the sound and surrounded by it in 3D. In Surround Sound technology, the sound originates from a horizontal plane around the listener whereas in Immersive Audio, we are literally “immersed” in the sound.
The Immersive Audio category was added to the Grammys in 2019. With Immersive Audio, the sound now has a “height” factor: it can come from all the directions. As a matter of fact, the movies industry was using the Surround Sound technology in the 1940s. In the 1950s, the recordings were mainly in mono, that is the sound coming from both speakers was the same. The technology of separating the sound layers was not known. With the innovation of the stereo sound, it was now possible to do the mixing on the left and on the right: you might have noticed that when using a headphone, the sound on your left ear and on the right are not the same; together they create the stereo sound.
Today we can enjoy Surround Sound at home: we are aware that the sound comes from different sources and points and this makes the listening process much more pleasurable for us. One might understand better the added “height” factor in Immersive Audio when remembering those IMAX movies we watch in movie theaters: the sound now moves around us in 360 degrees.
Let’s focus on Steven’s 2021 “The Future Bites”. The Immersive Audio effect is well noticed in tracks “Unself” and “Self”. This should be no surprise that Wilson is nominated in this category because he was already experimenting in sound and recording as a kid, now that he became a master in this field. The king of prog-rock is an incredible musical genius, a multi-instrumentalist composer and producer. His love and passion for this retro sound from the 70s and the 80s make him dear to my heart when I think about all those bands who shaped my music taste today. Another common point is that as a kid I was listening to bands such as ABBA, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Alan Parsons from my family’s vinyl collection just like Steven did. The very special sound he created in Porcupine Tree, Storm Corrosion and my favorite Blackfield has its roots in the music he listened to in his childhood.
At one point in his life Steven told himself there must be other bands than U2 in this world (I must say I completely share this thoughts on U2) and when he looked for this “other” music, he was surprised and delighted to find all these talented musicians in the field of extreme metal. He thought the road he would take was that of “metal” and began to work in the genre. At one other point in his life, he cooperated with the incredible Opeth and Mikael Akerfeld and added his golden touch to their albums Blackwater Park, Deliverance and Damnation, supporting them in the back vocals, guitars, keyboards and production.
Starting from 2008, Steven moved to solo works in order to focus on the music in his mind. Porcupine Tree disbanded after Wilson’s breakup, making a sharp U turn this year and releasing “Harridan” in November 2021. Steven at all times was saying PT was not coming together, he wasn’t going to make new music with PT, those PT days were left behind etc. Now with Harridan and the new PT album on its way, I suppose fans are pretty happy with this decision of comeback. We’ll see if this will be a long-term collaboration or not and whether the prog-rock masters will get together occasionally to make new music.
Let’s go back to the album. I think that with its dark pop, electronica and disco sound, “The Future Bites” stands closer to Steven and Aviv Geffen’s Blackfield rather than progressive rock and metal. The album with its unique sound might be placed in the pop genre, but it is never mainstream music. One might call it poppy-prog, leaving the listener with a disco-electronica taste of my fave 80s bands such as Alphaville, New Order and Jimmy Sommerville / Bronski Beat. My favorite tracks from the album are “12 Things I Forgot” with an abba-esque sound, the “Personal Shopper” experimenting in Alphaville sound territory, “Man of People” and the “Follower”. If we take a closer look at the subject of the album, it focuses on the dystopian world we are living in and in which we shall be drowning in the future. Those of you who have already read my articles on Iron Maiden’s The Writing on The Wall, Dengin Ceyhan, Leprous and Gojira (all those articles are available here at metaloda.com) will remember the accent I placed on artists’ reaction to chaos and evil reigning our world and all these recurring themes of darkness and hopelessness. Steven is no different: he asks questions about technology, technolojical greed, the tiresome consumerism and the bitter taste of coldness they leave behind. The topics he covers in the album are: the capitalist system forcing the consumer to buy the things one doesn’t need to survive, the artificial happiness acquired through buying, chain brands with glittery stores wearing a fake mask of environmental consicousness, the on-line buying process made very easy with one click alienating the consumer from the concept of physical money and from all the unseen labor behind it, money now living solely in our credit cards and in our colorful banking apps, the artificial and cold universe of the social media etc.
Have now, have now, pay in another life
Kickstart the future, accept this loan
Fill in the form, you’re pre-qualified
You’re now the sum of what you own
Buy now, buy now, have a better life
Close out transactions without remorse
Apply for credit, it’s your given right
Buy it all then buy some more
Buy for comfort, buy for kicks
Buy and buy until it makes you sick
Buy for England, buy it all
Buy online and in the shopping mall
Sell it on then buy it back
Buy the sh*t you never knew you lacked
Buy the update to compete
Buy the things that make your life complete
Speaking of all the products we buy just to get a sense of owning them or to show-off, let’s add that Sir Elton John figures in the interlude and outro of the song “Personal Shopper”, enumerating all of those nonsense things he bought, confessing his twisted shopping behavior: sunglasses, teeth whitener, volcanic ash soap, anti-ageing cream, diamond cufflinks, fake eyelashes etc.
[Interlude: Elton John]
Sunglasses
Teeth whitener
Deluxe edition box sets
Volcanic ash soap
Anti ageing cream (Self-love)
Multivitamin supplements
Noise cancelling headphones (Self-esteem)
Designer trainers (Self-indulgence)
Diamond cufflinks (Self-obsession)
Detox drinks (Self-obsession, Self-defence)
Smart watch (Self-obsession, Self-defence)
Organic LED television (Self-love, Self-control, Self-obsession)
Fitness club membership (Self-indulgence, Self-esteem, Self-doubt)
Fake eyelashes
Monogrammed luggage
180 gram vinyl reissues
Branded water
Self-help books
Let us not forget to mention the dark and disturbing video-clip of Personal Shopper where the protagonist slowly gives up his body parts in order to buy new things, thus selling his soul bit by bit.
I also liked the “Follower”, drawing our attention to our obsession with the number of followers on social media: the follower is now just a number, a brick exactly like on Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick on The Wall”:
Oh follow me, follow me
I’ll be a virtual brick through your window
Oh follow me, follow me
Future biting
Millions spiting
Too much time boy,
Too much everything.
I say, listen to the wonderful Steven Wilson who recently announced on his web page his new solo and PT projects in 2022 and 2023 and a new book . There have been critics who said “The Future Bites” was too poppy, too commercial etc. I completely disagree with these and think the album sounds great and that the lyrics make us think about the dark future we are now living in. As I told you earlier in this article, all our hopes are shattered in today’s modern world and our future leaves us with a bitter taste: so one does nothing but agree with Steven when he says “The Future Bites”.
PS: The Grammys, expected to take place in January were postponed due to the rising numbers of Omicron. I expect Steven to hold his Grammy Award in Best Immersive Audio category in the awards ceremony to come and I will be happily updating this review as “Steven Wilson, the winner of 2022 Grammy Award.”
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What a great article . TFB is certainly a further departure from earlier SW works ( The Gothic Raven album and my favourite HCE ). But what I like about Steve Wilson is that he is always moving forward – progressive rock in name and content . I am eagerly waiting for the new PT album this year – let’s see how much of it is progressive and how much is a throw back to the earlier PT sound .
Thank you Graham! And yes, he always moves forward. I like your observation abt progression in rock and content. :))