The Future Bites - Steven Wilson: Review

Steven Wilson

is a singer and multi-instrumentalist who has been operating for 30 years at this point and is often credited with carrying the torch for modern prog rock music. For years he served as the frontman of modern progs most recognizable band Porcupine Tree, before taking up the mantle as a solo artist in the lats 2000's. Since then he has released a number of critically acclaimed solo records including The Raven That Refused To Sing and Hand Cannot Erase. 

Review By Lav:

I like Steven Wilson. As much as my hot bitch side thinks prog rock can be pretentious and dorky when I hear the genre at its best I can't help but love the rich array of influences, satisfying compositions and grand scale. And for a few decades now "prog at its best" has been mainly Steven and the various projects he's had his hand in. While he isn't exclusively working in the often maligned genre and this record also isn't that easy to define, it's definitely what he is most strongly associated with. Even though I haven't been totally in love with Steven's last few outings I still make sure to listen in whenever he drops new material but on The Future Bites I think he misses the mark even worse than some other records in recent memory. 

The record starts on a rough patch so lets go ahead and get most of the bad out of the way first. Self is the first proper song on the record and its woke as fuckkkkkkk. All the lyricism uses the word self over and over again to make all kind of random detached and vague statements. Seriously though this seems like a parody song and I'm not sure what Steven is going for. The songwriting isn't great either as the hook has no energy or momentum and even when the instrumental gets grittier it just feels inauthentic.  Next up is King Ghost only a slight improvement that kicks off with a completely lifeless beat. I'm also not particularly impressed by the falsetto singing on the hook and the robotic singing vocals. It all comes together in a really flat way and flat is really just the best way to describe the track I don't see much reason to revisit it. 

Eminent Sleaze was a single released last year and I'm just as embarrassed by it on the record as I was as a single. I think the bassline and keys aim for soulful but miss really hard to the point of almost sounding like caricature. It's really the group vocals on the hook that kill me and make the whole song sound like borrowing sounds with absolutely no poise or purpose to the execution. Thankfully the record improves a lot from here on out at least up until the closing track Count Of Unease. The song feels like a total slap in the face as a closer that really takes its time dragging a cloudy nearly ambient instrumental growing slightly in loudness and intensity. The whole thing feels like it's building up to a classic prog explosion of sound only to meekly fizzle out completely so Steven can start singing again. I guess I'm glad there's something at the end rather than just a really extended fade out but it still feels like so much wasted potential. 

Man Of The People is the softest cut on the record but on some ways I think that's better. Even though it does build up some instrumental textures as it develops the song is mainly guided by Steven's calmly delivered vocals. That is until he starts screaming with manipulated vocals out of nowhere sometimes. The song is refreshing after the first half of the record despite its flaws. Follower is probably the liveliest track of the bunch with some blistering guitars and punchy drum hits. the heavier rock instrumentation doesn't last throughout and doesn't always match with Steven's measured performance but for the most part I like the first half. The second half isn't quite as strong and features even more ham fisted moments of rocking but I think the song overall is okay. 

My two favorite moments on the record were both released as singles last year. 12 Things I Forgot is a pop rocky track with a more raw presentation than most of what is here. The dragged out keys and slick guitar riffs sound straight out of 90's radio rock and Steven delivers a pretty straight catchy performance. Personal Shopper was the real highlight for me as a 10 minute cut that starts off the way so many great Steven Wilson tracks before it have with a spacious mix and sparse splashes of instrumentation. It follows this by erupting into a tight groove backing his whimsical vocals leading into the hook. While the hook isn't necessarily my favorite I do absolutely love the bridge that follows it. One thing I had forgotten about the track is that Elton John shows up to basically read off his grocery list which feels perfect for the song. This may be the only track on the record that feels like Steven living up to his potential. 

This record was definitely a disappointment. While Steven continues to take on ambitious song-writing and grand thematic statements neither of which translate nearly as much as his best work. Too many of the songs here seem bogged down by their ideologies rather than building on top of them and some of the tracks that surpass this make some really strange artistic choices when it comes to execution. While I have no doubt Steven will return in a few years with another attempt at something grand I don't see this record lasting as one of his best. 4.5/10

Album Cover Review By Tyler Judson:

This cover is very eye catching even with it being so simplistic. The portrait in the background is great and I love the deadpan posing and quality. The red text over shows the portrait in the perfect areas, framing the face and drawing you eye to the image but the red helps the text itself stand out in the image. 8/10

For more art rock check out my review of Future Islands As Long As You Are here