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The Harmony Codex is the seventh studio album by British musician Steven Wilson, released on 29 September 2023 through Virgin Music Group.[4][5]
Background
The record was first announced on 29 August 2023 with the release of lead single "Economies of Scale".[6] Since then, the tracks "Impossible Tightrope", "Rock Bottom", and "What Life Brings" have been released as singles.
The album is said to be "a genre-spanning collection that opens up like a musical puzzle box" and musically more complex than Wilson's previous album.[7][8]
Along with the release of the standalone record, a three-disc limited edition featuring a collection of bonus tracks under the name Harmonic Distortion.[9]
Recording
Steven Wilson supposedly worked on the album "in a studio tucked inside a garage of a North London townhouse", piecing together the tracks with remote help from collaborators Ninet Tayeb, Craig Blundell, Adam Holzman, Jack Dangers, and Sam Fogarino.[10]
Review
by Brendan Schroer CONTRIBUTOR (257 Reviews)October 4th, 2023 Review Summary: Steven Wilson: A Feature Film Presentation
Let’s start this off with a quick exercise. First, I want you to take a listen to Steven Wilson’s 2013 opus The Raven That Refused to Sing.
Even if you’ve heard it many times before, just take a moment to
re-absorb that vintage prog majesty once again. The elaborate bass
lines, the lush mellotrons, the jazz fusion tinges… yeah, that’s good
stuff. Now that you’re done with that, let’s fast-forward to 2021 and
revisit The Future Bites. The electropop sound, the (attempted)
social commentary of the lyrics, the cold sparse atmosphere… now, that’s
a stylistic 180 if I’ve ever heard one. Obviously Wilson was building
up to the style found on The Future Bites – To the Bone
definitely primed the pump for that – but when jumping straight from one
end of his catalog to another, it’s enough to give one whiplash.
More than anything though, To the Bone and The Future Bites
served as a message to his fans: expect the unexpected. For every
elaborate prog number like “Luminol” or “Raider II”, there might be a
dance-pop tune like “Permeating” or a bluesy rocker like “Eminent
Sleaze” to catch you off-guard. And it’s this type of thinking that got
me extremely curious about what Wilson would bring with The Harmony Codex. After all, what stylistic turn could he make after going all-in with the pop and electronic influences?
Well, Wilson did the best thing he could in this situation: take what actually worked
on the previous record, and expand it into a more sprawling, cinematic
experience. And he seemed poised to fully take advantage of this
direction both aurally and visually, as the video for lead single
“Economies of Scale” features two people dancing in a large chapel space
with impressive choreography, shot entirely in one take. Oh, and Wilson
himself makes a cameo appearance! See if you can spot him. Meanwhile,
the music itself is just as grand and engaging; Wilson creates a complex
tapestry of layered vocals, as the skittering Radiohead-style
percussion gives the ornate instrumentation some grounding and tension.
More than anything, “Economies of Scale” served as an excellent bridge
between The Future Bites and the rest of The Harmony Codex.
Of course, much of the record delves even further into this sweeping
musical territory. The other big single, and the one that Wilson really
wanted people to be hyped for, is the 11-minute “Impossible
Tightrope”. And how many lyrics do we get throughout this lengthy
excursion? Three lines. That’s all we get. The rest of the track is an
ambitious exercise in worldbuilding, including (but not limited to) the
following highlights: wailing sax lines, cold post-punk-esque guitar
leads, jazzy keyboard breaks, and a beautiful ambient section in the
middle to cap it all off. And it’s at this moment that I realized
something: The Harmony Codex as a whole is basically an olive
branch between the traditional and modern prog sensibilities of Wilson’s
solo career (granted, I suppose we already got this earlier on with Hand. Cannot. Erase., but still…).
While “Impossible Tightrope” might be the best example of that bridge,
it’s certainly present elsewhere too. For another extended tune that
exhibits this middle ground extremely well, we get the highly
atmospheric title track. The guitars and synths drone on hypnotically as
Wilson’s wife Rotem provides some lovely narration to flesh out the
ambiance of the piece. From then on, it’s mostly a suspenseful
post-rockish buildup for the rest of the song… simple in concept, but
strong in execution. Still, this is not to say that Wilson’s abandoned
that more tender, singer-songwriter side of his DNA, as cuts like the
pensive alt-rocker “What Life Brings” and the emotionally gripping
ballad “Rock Bottom” prove. The latter is especially notable because it
marks the return of longtime collaborator Ninet Tayeb, as she and Wilson
embark on the first duet together since 2017’s “Pariah” – and, as
always, Tayeb brings the house down with her raw, passionate delivery.
Despite all of this praise, I can’t help but feel as though something’s
missing here. It might have to do with the overall lack of these more
self-contained, concise moments, but the aforementioned worldbuilding
could stand to be reined-in at times. While the extended, sprawling
pieces are neat from a conceptual and atmospheric perspective, they also
make The Harmony Codex more emotionally distant at times and –
dare I say – even a bit hollow. I did mention earlier that “Economies of
Scale” was like a way of connecting The Future Bites and The Harmony Codex together, and this does
apply to some of the other songs as well. Unfortunately, that also
comes with the former album’s baggage – whether it be in moments of
questionable songwriting, dull vocal inflections, or an overly synthetic
vibe.
Still, this shouldn’t deter Steven Wilson fans from checking out The Harmony Codex,
as it’s a huge step up from its predecessor. If anything, this is
basically the direction he should have gone in immediately after To the Bone,
as it seems like a logical development from that record’s
electronica-tinged prog-pop style. In any case, this is essentially
Wilson’s “cinematic” album, and allows him to play around with a wide
variety of fun styles and experiments using that theme. It’s sprawling,
it’s immersive, it’s widescreen, and – most of all – it’s a sign that
our favorite(?) modern progger still has plenty left to say, even over
30 years into his illustrious career.
Dengue Fever is an American band from Los Angeles who combine Cambodian rock and pop music of the 1960s and 70s with psychedelic rock and other world music styles. Their most recent album, Ting Mong, was released in September 2023.
credits
released September 15, 2023
Chhom Nimol - Vocals
Ethan Holtzman - Keyboards
Zac Holtzman - Guitars and Vocals
David Ralicke - Brass and Woodwinds
Paul Dreux Smith - Drums and Percussion
Senon Gaius Williams - Bass Guitars
Alex Lilly - Background vocals
Produced by PauL Smith and Dengue Fever
Recorded and mixed by Paul at Dos Leones, Burbank and Campo Viejo, Pipes Canyon
Additional recording by:
David at Nickel Jones Studio, Los Angeles
Senon at The Shoebox, Los AngeleS
Spencer Lere at Deckhouse Studios, GlendalE
Mastered by Reuben Cohen at Lurssen Mastering
Artwork by Imiri Sakabashira
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