Porcupine Tree - An Empty Box

 

Porcupine Tree An Empty Box

by Pete Clemons

The build up to the release of this album seems to have taken an age. Although, to be fair, 'The Future Bites' was written and completed long before Covid 19 took hold. Through no fault of Steven Wilson, it has been the pandemic that has played its part in the albums long delay. But it is now almost upon us and the reviews of the album, so far, have been very encouraging and incredibly positive.

The theme for 'The Future Bites' questions commerciality, and I found myself ordering the box set. But the longer the delay ensued and the release date was put back I found myself recalling a very early Porcupine Tree tune called 'An Empty Box'. No idea why. I maybe guessed that Steven was being mischievous and maybe, in some way, he was going to have the last laugh on us. Those with long memories may remember the spoken sequence, a fictitious interview, at the beginning of the track:...............

'You did mention recently in an interview with the New Musical Express that you were considering issuing a box. Unreleased demo's, psychedelic jams that kind of thing.

Well the thing is, at the moment and the way that the money is going, I think that the box is as far as we get – an empty box. Which seems fairly unwise at the moment'.

As it turns out, the box set is far from empty. Musically there are plenty of surprises in it. I'm not sure if there are many left. If you want one to listen to, and not just to own, do not regret missing out on the chance to buy it.

In addition to commercialism, 'The Future Bites' has also investigated what the internet has done to us as consumers. Inadvertently, this album, via the internet and social media, has drawn out of us, some of the funniest and strangest reactions that I have ever come across.

An angst and a furor, rarely heard or seen since Bob Dylan and T. Rex went electric or The Beatles and Abba split up, has built up on the various social media sites during the period that the album was on hold. Steven Wilson has got it absolutely right when it comes to the album's subject matter. From being a closed, and rather private society, we now appear to be more than happy to reveal our most personal of details and our innermost nature.

During the 'To the Bone' tour, which lasted 14 months, the touring band racked up 145 concerts taking in over 30 countries and over 100 cities around the world. In hindsight, the more electronic nature of this album was hinted at during that last tour. And recently, Steven Wilson is quoted as saying that, 'for the first time in my life I actually wrote something topical to our current climate'.

Another twist is that Steven has even managed to recruit Elton John to guest on the album. Elton was involved on the track Personal Shopper. He does the monologue towards the end of the track. And it is true what Steven says, in that we sometimes tend to buy stuff for the ownership of it rather than for what it is intended for. Such how the algorithms have seeped into us.

Steven Wilson has been doing what he does within his world of music for majority of his life. Additionally he has been recording, releasing and touring music for the last 30 of those years. He is astute and clearly thinks about the wider business. In terms of career length he has far surpassed many of his contemporaries. And, despite that, he still wants to release music of value and worth. So it is only fair that if he says that he has done all he can with guitar based music, and wants to explore other avenues, then we need to respect that.