Steven Wilson has released a second studio clip from recording sessions for his upcoming solo album.
The film follows last month’s update and in the new piece he confirms the as-yet-untitled album will launch in February next year and reveals the concept behind the record – the follow up to 2013’s The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories).
Several audio samples from the record can be also be heard throughout the clip. View it below.
Wilson says: “The seed was seeing the documentary Dream Of A Life. It’s about this woman called Joyce Carol Vincent who was found dead in her London apartment and she’d been there for three years.
“What’s really interesting about this story is that your initial reaction is it’s a little old bag lady that no one cares about. She wasn’t. She was young, she was popular, she was attractive, she had many friends, she had family but for whatever reason, nobody missed her.
“There was something about that that had so much pathos and so much to say about what it is to be living in the city in the 21st century.”
The album is written from a female perspective with two of the tracks recorded in the first-person. As a result, the Porcupine Tree frontman decided to record some of the material with a female vocalist.
He continues: “There’s a couple of songs where I’m effectively duetting with a fantastic singer called Ninette. She’s providing the female voice on this record and some of the tracks are written completely in the first person: Routine and Happy Returns.”
Wilson also says he was inspired by Kate Bush album The Dreaming – and reveals he wants parts of the record to have the same ethereal quality.
He adds: “There’s one song on that record called All Of The Love and there’s a beautiful moment where her voice breaks off and the voice of a boy chorister takes over.
“I’ve always loved the sound of boy choristers so we’ve got a 12-piece boy choir group and that’s exciting. I’ve had a choir before but I’ve never had that ethereal quality.”
Wilson recently launched a charity track titled The Old Peace. It’s based on a poem written by Alec Wildey – a 26-year-old fan who died of cancer in August. It’s available via Burning Shed and all proceeds will be donated to charity.
