Frontman for the on-hiatus Porcupine Tree, Steven Wilson has released his new solo album The Raven That Refused To Sing, and The Pin Drop, coming in at five minutes, is the shortest track on the album. I recently had the opportunity to see Steve at Billboard, and he and his company of ridiculous musicians really brought the house down.
This song features classically Steven Wilson style melancholic guitar and also shows off Steven Wilson’s love for harmonies and screeching guitar solos. Accompanying this however is the somewhat newer addition of wind instruments, with Theo Travis playing sax, clarinet and flute on the record (of which the sax is particularly noticeable in The Pin Drop).
Steven Wilson has a tendency to layer his own vocals in his recordings, and that too is quite clear in this one. Overall the product quality is very solid, with all the elements of the song contributing to the overall feeling. Nothing feels like it is hard to hear, and everything seems to have a decent amount of space around it to move. The vocals could have been slightly clearer in the choruses, however that’s a minor gripe.
Also worth noting is that Alan Parsons is listed as a producer on this record, an incredibly talented fellow involved on albums like Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon, The Beatle’s Abbey Road as well as having his own successful musician roles, most notable in The Alan Parsons Project.
A great song, mixing Wilson’s inescapable sense of nostalgia with exciting peaks and troughs.
A great album, definitely worth checking out, and incredible live.
Released: 25 February 2013
Recorded: East West Studios, Los Angeles, 15-21st September 2012
Genre: Progressive Rock, Jazz Fusion
Producer/s:Steven Wilson, Alan Parsons
Label: Kscope
The Woebegone Woods 