Steven Wilson at Z7 Pratteln - 29 March 2015

When musician's musician Steven Wilson comes to town, you know you're in for a treat. Wilson was the brains behind British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree before he set off on a prolific solo career. His latest album Hand.Cannot.Erase evinces musical complexity and a dark conceptual backstory. It charted all over Europe; no wonder Pratteln's Z7 venue is sold out.

The album, says Wilson, "started with something very specific, a news story about a woman called Joyce Carol Vincent who'd been found dead in her apartment in north London. The TV was still on and she'd been there for over two years, undiscovered. It became even more tragic and extraordinary when I found out that she wasn't a lonely little old lady, as I think most people would assume, but quite the opposite; she was a popular, attractive young woman who, for whatever reason, had not been missed in all that time by her friends and family. (...) It seemed somehow symptomatic of life in the 21st century and more specifically life in a large city in the 21st century."

Using that as his entry point, Wilson crafted an album that includes his usual elements of progressive rock, but also incorporates electronic sounds, spoken word passages, even the occasional strains of stadium pop. Wilson's long-term collaborator Lasse Hoile added the atmospheric visuals, on display at the Z7 throughout the show.

The concert is hypnotic. Of the new songs, the lovely Perfect Life borrows from the sound palette of Alan Wilder's Recoil project, while title track Hand Cannot Erase edges into rock territory. The quiet and contemplative Routine offsets Home Invasion's action film intro and atonal qualities.

Progressive rock ingredients are mixed into Ancestral and 3 Years Older; both exceed the 10-minute mark. Ancestral is saved from being a throwback to the 1970s by its heavy metal riffs, but other songs don't fare quite as well - The Watchmaker from Wilson's last album The Raven That Refused To Sing being a case in point. Prog rock can veer towards the highbrow, and not necessarily in a good way: complex time signatures and noodling guitar solos may be intellectually interesting, but they don't always strike an emotional chord.

Good thing, then, that Wilson has many aces up his sleeve. He mentions his influences growing up in the 1980s (My Bloody Valentine, Cocteau Twins, shoegaze bands) and how they fed into writing Harmony Korine from his 2008 album Insurgentes - one of the most exquisite songs ever penned, in my opinion.

The singer doesn't ignore his Porcupine Tree output, either: Lazarus and Sleep Together are rapturously received by the crowd. With its odd electronic bassline and unusual melody, Sleep Together is a particular standout.

Guitarist Guthrie Govan, keyboarder Adam Holzman, drummer Marco Minnemann and bassist Nick Beggs, all masters in their fields, are intense yet unfussy in their delivery. Wilson himself is a drily funny presence on stage, asking about Hand.Cannot.Erase's chart position in Switzerland (audience: "Number 17!" - Wilson: "Is that good?") and gently taking the mick out of Beggs' offer to sing background vocals on one of the songs ("Nick was worryingly enthusiastic about singing the female part"). The singer's voice is clean and pitch-perfect - almost anonymous, in fact, and subservient to the music as a whole. But when Wilson sits on a bar stool and performs closer The Raven That Refused To Sing, the emotionality in his voice is spinetingling and far from anonymous.

A treat indeed.

Setlist:

First Regret

3 Years Older

Hand Cannot Erase

Perfect Life

Routine

Index

Home Invasion

Regret #9

Lazarus

Harmony Korine

Ancestral

Happy Returns

Ascendant Here On...

The Watchmaker

Sleep Together

The Raven That Refused To Sing

(Source: setlist.fm)

- Anna Wirz

More photos on flickr.