With its excellent The Future Biteslaunched at the beginning of 2021, Wilson had plunged without restraint into a universe of electro textures which had served him wonderfully well. The Harmony Codex picks up where he left off with Inclination, the first title which launches hostilities with a punchy synthetic rhythm which nevertheless invites you to let your imagination fly. Conversely, What Life Brings is all that is most accessible, no electronic manipulation on the horizon, we are here in a very Floydian spirit, an inspiration that Steven Wilson has always claimed – the homage can be heard here even in the solo of Stratocaster with David Gilmour sauce.
We continue to oscillate between these two poles on the following two pieces: the very beautiful Economies of Scale diffuses an airy atmosphere which is placed at odds with the deconstructed digital pulsations whileImpossible Tightrope is a progressive exercise of almost classical style, with changing time signatures, guitar, saxophone and organ solos with the added bonus of melodies à la Emerson Lake and Palmer. A candy that old prog fans will be able to enjoy with pleasure for almost 11 minutes.
The singer-songwriter, however, stops procrastinating from Beautiful Scarecrow : the best song on the album is driven by a dense tribal rhythm and a guttural bass line above which a disturbing Arabic melody emerges. He stays on course until the end with the delicate arpeggios of Time Is Running Outthe gothic accents ofCurrent Brutal Facts and the exuberance of Staircasea trio of high-end, thoroughly modern songs that demonstrate the direction that now best suits Steven Wilson.
Progressive rock
The Harmony Codex
Steven Wilson
Independent