Just in time for the start of the next section of the "Hand. Cannot. Erase" tour, Steven Wilson opened his casket and released six previously unreleased songs from the last recording sessions. "4½" is the title of the official EP release.
eclipsed: With its 37 minutes of play "4½" would have been a regular album 40 years ago. What do you think it is?
Steven Wilson: What I lack to call a real album is the conceptual context that I like to give to my albums. This one certainly doesn't. So it's not a regular album for me. The title "4½" says it all. It is not the successor of "Hand. Cannot. Erase." It's a transitional release.
eclipsed: Four of the six new songs were written by the "Hand. Cannot. Erase." sessions. When were these created?
STEVEN WILSON - Frei, that means alone
two years ago Steven Wilson climbed the Prog-Olymp with his solo work "The Raven That Refused To Sing". The active Englishman has received exuberant criticism across the scene. Now he lays with "Hand. Cannot. Erase." A work as ambitious and complex as its predecessor. However, the bar is high. If and how Steven Wilson wants to overcome them and which direction he takes, he tells in a big interview.
GOV'T MULE - Pink Floyd and all the others
Steven Wilson: "Among the hundred songs I've written over the years, "routine" has a special place. It's a deeply sad story of loss and rejection, but in the end the clouds loosen and there's at least some kind of acceptance."
Steven Wilson talks about the preparations for his short September tour, which will take him to Switzerland (Zurich) and Luxembourg, among other places. The two - already sold out - highlight concerts are scheduled at the end of the tour for the Royal Albert Hall in London. There, alongside his current solo album "Hand. Cannot. Erase", many older songs, mainly classics of his main band Porcupine Tree.
That Wilson is one of the most exciting artists in rock is now undisputed. The upcoming tour is as good as sold out. The current and the last album went on #3 into the German charts... A detailed tour report will follow in the upcoming eclipsed magazine 05/15 (EVT: 24.04.).
Each of his three solo albums has so far shown a completely different facet of the exceptional artist Steven Wilson. No different "Hand. Cannot. Erase", which represents a clear departure from the jazz and fusion-infiltrated prog of "The Raven That Refused To Sing". In a way, it is a kind of résumé of the 47-year-old's work to date. Wilson's creative diversity once again imposes itself here in almost astonishing clarity.
Two years ago Steven Wilson climbed the Prog-Olymp with his solo work "The Raven That Refused To Sing". The active Englishman has received exuberant criticism across the scene. Now he lays with "Hand. Cannot. Erase." A work as ambitious and complex as its predecessor. However, the bar is high. If and how Steven Wilson wants to overcome them and which direction he takes, he tells in a big interview.
eclipsed: Steven, would you agree with the following statement: You wanted to show the prog scene and all your critics with "The Raven" that you can always make a progressive rock album if you want to, a big one?
Steven Wilson: Partially. "The Raven" was a sign that I can make a classic progressive rock album and that I can do it better than anybody else. That sounds arrogant, but I think now that I've done that, I can't go on.
STEVEN WILSON
The Ravenator
"The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories)" is Steven Wilson's latest prank. With his phenomenal third solo album, the Brit immerses himself in the past to redefine his own future. And Porcupine Tree will not belong to this group in the foreseeable future, as he clarifies in a conversation with eclipsed. In contrast to the ominous raven in the title of his record, Steven Wilson willingly provides information about himself, his music (and other stories).
BILL WYMAN
Away from the festivities
JIMI HENDRIX
To everything there is a season
He'd be in jail by a hair's breadth. He was saved from that by joining the army. There he met Billy Cox, with whom he would later play in Woodstock, among other places. But before this happened, the US American Jimi Hendrix had to take the road via England to be recognised as a star in his home country. We remember important stages in the short life of the immortal rock guitarist, who would have turned 70 on 27 November.
STEVE HACKETT
Full Power Back
PINK FLOYD
The refinement of the perfect
With "Why Pink Floyd?" the British rock legend Pink Floyd not only refines their back catalogue, but also launches a marketing campaign that even surpasses the Beatles madness of 2010. eclipsed drummer Nick Mason took to the verbal sweatbox and demanded Tacheles - about ongoing reunion rumours, unreleased recordings, the current band chemistry and mistakes of the past. We also interviewed sound engineer Andy Jackson about his experiences with Pink Floyd. And: We start the walk through all the studios where the band ever recorded.
STEVEN WILSON
Soli Surcharge
