Future Perfect
Steven Wilson updates us on his Covid-19-delayed new album
The campaign for Steven Wilson’s sixth solo album, The Future Bites, was just getting into full swing when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Plans were changed: tour dates were postponed and the album was put back from June 2020 to January 2021.
“It was a pain, but I wanted to present it properly with all the high-concept stuff around it,” he says. “But there’s been a silver lining, which is that I’ve been able to put a lot more time into recording extra material for the bonus edition. There are now an extra six songs to go on there, alternate mixes and longer versions of tracks that are on the main album, because the album itself is very concise.”
That’s ironic, given the first song released from the album was the 10-minute Personal Shopper, a largely guitar-free satire on western consumerism. “This is probably the least guitar-orientated record I’ve ever made. There are a lot more electronics on this album, but it’s not an electronic album as such. But where the last two or three records clearly had reference points in the past, this sounds like it could have only been made in 2019 or 2020.”’
Personal Shopper was notable for a spoken-word guest appearance from Elton John. Wilson hit on the idea of using the veteran singer after watching the Rocketman biopic. “There’s a scene at the end where he’s talking about how he managed to kick all his addictions except one: shopping. I thought, ‘Who could be better to read this monologue of First World consumer items than him? He’s the most famous consumer on the planet.’”
A mutual friend passed the track on to Elton, who loved it and called Wilson to say he’d do it. “The only thing he wouldn’t read out was ‘cocaine’, for obvious reasons. And he wouldn’t say ‘mobile phone case’. He said, ‘I don’t have a fucking mobile phone.’”
Unlike other musicians, Wilson has laid low during lockdown, avoiding online sessions. “I’m not the sort of artist who is going to impress people with an acoustic guitar in my living room.”
And will he be doing any drive-in concerts? “No,” comes the firm reply. “Absolutely not.” this prog metal group. And I was very tired of that. I wanted to do other things. So in a sense In Absentia was also the beginning of the end.”
Wilson has fielded regular requests to reform Porcupine Tree down the years from fans and the music industry alike. His response has always been a straight ‘no’. That’s something that is unlikely to ever change.
“A one-off show, that is possible,” says Wilson. “But what isn’t possible is that Porcupine Tree or any band would ever become my primary creative outlet ever again. I don’t think I’m made for being in a democratic collective environment.”
That may be the case now, but it certainly wasn’t then. As fine as the solo work he’s subsequently put out, nothing has had the influence that PT had. And no album of his has been as influential as In Absentia.