STEVEN WILSON – The Overview (Album Review)

Steven Wilson sets his sights on lofty heights for his latest thematic release. To the heavens and beyond, to the farthest reaches of human imagination, and then some. It seems appropriate that this interstellar trek aligns with his own ethos as an artist: to boldly go where no one has gone before. Or, at least, to surprise his audience and not repeat himself too often. 

On that count, Wilson is only partly successful. After the 80s pop rock of To The Bone, the electronic pop of The Future Bites, and the genre-blending artistic work of The Harmony Codex, Wilson gets big points for taking a surprising turn for his next creation: a concept album comprising of two lengthy tracks.

If he ever was going to blatantly return to prog-rock territory, this seems like a classy way to do it. Even more impressive is his choice to thematically utilize ‘the overview effect’ – a cognitive shift reportedly experienced by astronauts as they look at Earth from space. This gave Wilson the proper “perspective” for the album, by attempting to relate the infinite vastness of outer space to our myopic egocentric concerns here on Earth. Brilliant. 

Still, the album in its entirety does not explore as much new ground on a musical level as one might assume. Although he has one of the most eclectic musical tastes – and libraries – of anyone in this galaxy, that doesn’t mean he’s going to reinvent himself every time. While his previous The Harmony Codex was bursting at the seams with new ideas and fresh sounds, The Overview finds Wilson reining it in a bit and reprising what he’s done before, albeit in a new template. 

Indeed, musically the album feels like a retrospective of all-things Wilson. You can hear so many specific quotes from moments past (right back to Porcupine Tree’s more psychedelic days) that one wonders if he even hid them there on purpose, like Easter eggs for his fans to discover and trace back to their original source. Even the structure of these two side-long epics has been tried out before with The Incident, where several independent songs are strung together into one extended piece.

However, it must be acknowledged that the effort is more seamless with this latest release. This is all to say that while The Overview is a grand and epic idea, it’s more of a celebration of what has come before. Which, after the swings of his aforementioned recent albums, may come as some relief to his faithful fans, who can now simply luxuriate in these two extended pieces of art. 

To pull off this cosmic concept, Wilson employs friends new and familiar, but it’s still largely a solo album. In addition to vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, drum programming, sound design, and piano, Wilson also plays almost all of the bass on the album. Apparently, he enjoyed becoming the bass player heir apparent for Porcupine Tree, and so is continuing that passion here.

Nary a Nick Beggs lick in sight, though don’t worry, Beggs will be on the tour. In an unexpected twist, however, Beggs’ daughter Willow shows up on two songs with backing vocals. And it may come as a surprise to learn that touring drummer Craig Blundell is only featured on part of the album, with a larger portion being ably handled by Adam Holzman’s son Russell. Yes, Adam is on board at the keyboard chair on several tracks, too. Along with Rotem Wilson returning on spoken word vocals, The Overview is turning somewhat into a family affair. 

But it is Randy McStine who is most present throughout nearly the whole album, offering backing vocals, sound design, keys, exactly 12 individual bass notes (see if you can spot them, ha), and a host of guitars including some of the most formidable moments of the album. Suggested to Wilson by Gavin Harrison for the role of touring guitarist with Porcupine Tree in ’22, McStine appears to be the perfect co-conspirator for Wilson, both musically speaking and from a similar headspace.

For example, McStine‘s recent solo album Mutual Hallucinations (which includes some mixes from Wilson) is a fine companion piece to Wilson’s own The Harmony Codex. Not to mention he has three albums out with drummer extraordinaire and Wilson alumnus Marco Minnemann. Okay, finally, let’s get on to the two songs themselves.

The 23-minute “Objects Outlive Us” opens the album and immediately there it is: Wilson’s high falsetto voice drenched in a bed of reverb. For those who might incur a moment of PTSD from “Personal Shopper” or “Permanating”, fear not…the piece moves on. Into the mist we go, apparently finding us positioned on a moor of another planet with an alien asking in monotone spoken word (a la in “Detonation”), “Did you forget I exist?”. With the wry answer from Wilson being, “I said, ‘Yes, ‘cause you played too hard to get’”, one could think this was a conversation poking fun at God. But no, this is a sci-fi story here, as hints of Major Tom and Rocket Man to 2001 and “A Smart Kid” or “Last Chance To Evacuate Planet Earth Before It’s Recycled” float by occasionally. 

The subsequent choral chant of “The Buddha of the Modern Age” recites a litany of reasons that our species – wallowing in its own feces – is not going to come to a pleasant end. It’s quite a wallop of a start, though not uncharacteristic of Wilson’s gloomy take on humanity’s aspirations. Two sections in and already we need a ray of light to give us a brighter perspective. 

Enter Andy Partridge to the rescue – himself being quite the sardonic observer of human foils – who offers lyrics for the subsequent “Objects: Meanwhile”. Partridge beautifully juxtaposes our trite dramas with the space oddity of the stars above: “A shopping bag broke sending eggs and flour crashing down to the ground just like star clusters smashing”, or of a failing marriage: “Of course he’s alive, he’ll be home around five, still silence arrives when a nebula dies into a milky way.”

Bonus: just for fun, imagine Partridge singing these lyrics in his own inimitable vocal style. It works. With Wilson getting to play some in-your-face distorted acoustic bass to open up the second half of the song (a la “Harridan”), trippy guitars start to fly and we finally get signs of more musical muscle starting to show up.

Unfortunately, the next section – forebodingly titled “The Ark” – slows things up a bit, with a repetitive melodic vocal structure not much more inspired than the earlier “Buddha” section. The main bulk of the story seems to be told here but isn’t easy to make out given the layered vocals. Fortunately, Russell Holzman is starting to really impress on the drum kit, Wilson is doing quite well on bass as well, and by the time we get to “Cosmic Sons of Toil” and a fiery solo from McStine, our planet-evacuation story is rocking out in classic Wilson fashion. 

A reprise of the misty moor conversation launches the sumptuous payoff that closes the piece: a spacious three-minute-plus McStine guitar solo. It’s kind of his “Drive Home” moment, but having been given guidance to not play the guitar hero, it’s more rooted in Fripp sensibilities than in Gilmour‘s grandeur. The solo closes in a slow-motion dive bomb which deliciously is drowned out by abrasive strings conveying outer space static in “Heat Death of the Universe”. 

One epic down, one to go, as the title track takes us deeper into the far reaches of space. How far? Rotem Wilson answers that question, providing a bit of context by reciting distances from Earth to various galaxies, clusters, and stars. (No, she’s not mentioning the movie Beetlejuice, but rather the red supergiant star in the constellation of Orion, Betelgeuse) Trippy, mind-expanding stuff. Still, will spoken-word numeric recitations sustain repeated listening without growing tiresome for the listener? Only time will tell.

It’s nearly 5 minutes before we reach the first proper song, the gorgeous “A Beautiful Infinity” which is certainly one highlight of the album. Niko Tsonev gets tapped for the guitar solo this time, and Craig Blundell finally makes his appearance, though ironically it starts out as one of the more straightforward drum parts on the album. McStine even gets a moog solo which sounds hauntingly familiar to that of Richard Wright. 

Lyrically, Wilson goes out of his way to preach his atheistic take on things: “There’s no reason for any of this, just a beautiful infinity. No designer, no one at the wheel, just an existential mystery. La la la la…” Okay, Steven, have it your way, it’s your album. Humanity is an insignificant speck of dust in this endless expanse of mystery…is that depressing or hopeful? It appears that we get to create the meaning we choose. 

“Infinity Measured in Moments” picks up the pace with the drums kicking into a higher gear and Adam Holzman finally letting it rip with an extended Moog solo. As the end draws near, McStine’s ringing ukulele surrounds the listener, and Rotem returns, launching us into the final sequence. Although Wilson comments on space being such a cold, unforgiving place of death, he decides to send us off in a heavenly fashion – on an ambient cloud of suspended keys and Theo Travis’ soprano saxophone. It’s kind of a shame this closing section is only three minutes long, as it feels like it could extend to an entire eighteen minutes in its own right. 

There’s a lot going on here, though some of the sections don’t knock it out of the universe as much as might be hoped. Does the 18-minute title track even match the heavens achieved by Phase 1 of “The Sky Moves Sideways”? Perhaps it’s unfair to compare the two, separated by thirty years.

The good news is that Wilson continues to engage us with thoughtful, engaging music as he develops his career. Of course, it’s also impeccably produced and sounds as sonically perfect as one could hope for. And perfectly suited to a cinematic experience, which should be forthcoming, along with the accompanying tour. It may not be the defining moment of his career but The Overview is a welcome progression to his catalog, which continues expanding to a beautiful infinity. 

Released By: Fiction Records
Release Date: March 14, 2025
Genre: Progressive Rock

Musicians:

• Steven Wilson / Vocals, guitars, keyboards, sampler, bass, percussion, programming, strings, piano
• Adam Holzman / Keyboards, mellotron, Hammond organ, piano, modular synth, Rhodes piano
• Randy McStine / Guitars, sound design, FX, backing vocals, harmony vocals
• Craig Blundell / Drums
• Russell Holzman / Drums
• Theo Travis / Sax, ambient flutes
• Niko Tsonev / Guitar solo on “A Beautiful Infinity I”
• Andy Partridge / Voices
• Rotem Wilson / Voices

The Overview Track-Listing:

1. Objects Outlive Us (23:17) :
– No Monkey’s Paw
– The Buddha of the Modern Age
– Objects: Meanwhile
– The Cicerones
– Ark
– Cosmic Sons of Toil
– No Ghost on the Moor
– Heat Death of the Universe
2. The Overview (18:27) :
– Perspective
– A Beautiful Infinity I
– Borrowed Atoms
– A Beautiful Infinity II
– Infinity Measured in Moments
– Permanence

Pre-order The Overview here

8.8 Excellent

The stars align for Steven Wilson’s return to prog rock in the form of two lengthy sci-fi infused pieces. Traversing the cosmos structurally somewhere between The Sky Moves Sideways and The Incident, the music herein quotes much of Wilson’s previous career as opposed to pushing new ground like his previous solo album achieved. Thematically, Wilson has found a tantalizing concept to explore, so see where his musings take you on this interstellar journey

• Songwriting 8
• Musicianship 9.5
• Originality 7.5
• Production 10