Artist: Steven Wilson
Album: Hand.Cannot.Erase
Bitrate: 237kbps avg
Quality: EAC Secure Mode / LAME 3.98.4 / -V0 / 44.100Khz
Label: KScope
Genre: Progressive Rock
Size: 120.55 megs
PlayTime: 1h 06min 04sec total
Rip Date: 2015-02-26
Store Date: 2015-02-27
Track List:
01. First Regret 2:01
02. 3 Years Older 10:17
03. Hand Cannot Erase 4:17
04. Perfect Life 4:46
05. Routine 9:02
06. Home Invasion 6:24
07. Regret #9 5:00
08. Transcience 2:48
09. Ancestral 13:33
10. Happy Returns 6:00
11. Ascendant Here On... 1:56
Release Notes:
Steven Wilson is a true legend. The mastermind behind progressive rock stalwarts
Porcupine Tree, he has also recently forged himself a stellar career as a solo
artist, writing three albums that are all hailed more or less as masterpieces.
The most recent, The Raven That Refused To Sing, drew huge amounts of praise
from this very website.
Steven Wilson has always created music that is perhaps a little difficult to
truly digest, and his latest, Hand Cannot Erase, might be his most challenging
yet. A combination of shorter, art pop-type songs mixed with longer, despondent
progressive rock pieces, there is almost an air of absence to this collection of
songs, which is perhaps appropriate to the theme of the record.
Hand Cannot Erase is a concept album, but it feels more human, more real than
the ghost story-themed The Raven That Refused To Sing; it's about a woman who
disappears one day, and no one notices for three years. It's a much more human
story, and that has obviously translated into the music. The concept is a pretty
woeful one; she was popular and had friends, but was never missed. The album
seems to act almost as a journal for her mind and thoughts, and it can seem very
downcast at times, but it's contrasted with moments of
sun-breaking-through-clouds hope as well.
Nowhere is that dichotomy better demonstrated than the title track. The pop-prog
saccharine melancholy of Hand Cannot Erase is surprisingly one of the best
tracks on the album. It has an uplifting feeling to it while also seeming to be
very sad. Perfect Life also demonstrates this emotional divide well.
Regret #9 , meanwhile, is a wandering proggy piece that has a much warmer
feeling than other songs. Keyboardist Adam Holzman gives us a fantastic keyboard
solo, topped by an utterly jaw-dropping guitar solo courtesy of Guthrie Govan.
It might hold up as best instrumental moment of the year.
Musically, this is a very different album from Steven Wilson. Whereas his
previous solo works were much more instrumentally technical, this album is
composed much more vocally. There are still moments where the instrumentalists
get to shine such as on Home Invasion and even the Rush-like First Regret
but overall the album is far more constructed like a Porcupine Tree album
would be. That isn't to say this sounds like a Porcupine Tree album, but the
focus on the lyrical narrative is reminiscent of one. Some songs make use of a
guest vocalist, Israeli pop rock singer Ninet Tayeb. Her voice is dark and well
suited to the material, and is especially standout on the track Ancestral , a
thirteen minute trudge. There are lighter moments throughout, but it culminates
in some seriously dark and heavy instrumental work that really shows off Marco
Minneman's drumming skills.
As is typical for his work, Steven Wilson has once again achieved a perfect mix.
It is delicate and dynamic, and it has a lot of space for everything to breathe.
Little synth flourishes on Transience pop into the background of the song and
add a nice extra dimension to the music.
Hand Cannot Erase perhaps stands out among Steven Wilson's work as having the
most unique identity. It is an amalgamation of all his various styles from
various points in his career condensed into a lovely haunting package that
features excellent backing musicians. It's an immensely challenging listen one
that takes many listens to even get an inkling of what exactly Steven is trying
to do but gods above is it rewarding when it finally starts to click. Steven
Wilson has done it again.
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