This week Virgin invited us into a Dolby Atmos studio, blinded us so much that we had no idea who or what was next to us, and played us a record with the best sound quality available on the market. In a truly unusual move in the music industry, fans and media have been able to listen to an album in a quality that headphones or home equipment do not provide, no matter how many euros you want to spend.
The album presented is ‘The Harmony Codex’ by Steven Wilson, which will be on sale next September 29th. Now a prog-rocker, now an electronic guru, the Porcupine Tree member is now editing a conceptual work on a story called ‘The Harmony Codex’, which he self-published last year. Revolving around a dystopian story about a father, two sons, a terrorist, and with a touch of science fiction, the album features cosmic, ambient, prog-rock and trip hop tracks including other labels that should be avoided.
The sensation of hearing an acoustic guitar sound completely different from another electric guitar coming from another point in a large room is certainly intense and inspiring. This place, Océane Caleido Urban, where we had already attended a program of other great sound experts such as Triangulo de Amor Bizarro, represents a contrast with that disgusting mobile on the metro on the way to Begoña from which music like Something comes.
From the album, 3 singles have already come out that do not do justice to the journey that this album represents, if only because the title song is a 10-minute “nothing is happening” according to its own author. Which holds ‘The Harmony Codex’. As one of your favorite tracks. Steve Wilson himself has appeared to explain that if he’s here it’s to demystify genres, to remember that “progressive” means very different things to different people, and this time Their intention is to achieve something more dynamic, not exclusively electronic or rock like last time.
Bluff and natural, and in front of a predominantly male and rock audience – and this last point is emphasized by himself – Steven Wilson reveals his exhaustion of rock patterns both in the studio and live. He has even joked about his tendency to “lose fans”, causing laughter among the honorees. “I can’t do anything new with guitar, bass and drums that hasn’t already been done,” he confessed, about not wanting to repeat himself and losing his fear of trying different things. While talking. Synthesizers seem more exciting to him because he “doesn’t understand them”, and his way of approaching them is polite: in his own words, “as if he were an idiot.”
Furthermore, he has attacked 21st century rock for its inability to reinvent itself. “I hope someone proves me wrong, but rock has come to a standstill in the 21st century. Nirvana was the last time rock figured out how to sound fresh. “Kanye West Invented More Than 21st Century Rock.” In an interview with him a few hours later he said: “It’s been over 30 years since Nirvana, the last time rock really meant something on a global scale, where it influenced everything from fashion to cinema. Could have done.” “This is the last time rock means something internationally.”
At the press conference, after explicitly mentioning ‘Yeezus’ and the talent of Billie Eilish, being hugely influenced by the tunes of that 2013 album, Steven Wilson used terms like “retro” or “regressive” to refer to turn-of-the-century rock. Used words. XXI. Whereas according to him “We live in an electronic world, with cell phones, computers, where everything is electronic.”
Someone in the audience dared to mention Noel Gallagher, Oasis after Nirvana. Noel often says that rock bands aren’t what they used to be anymore and the market doesn’t want them anymore. While no one was going to mention Menskin in front of Steven Wilson, I was thinking of the Arctic Monkeys number, with an ‘AM’ that doesn’t leave the streaming charts even in hot water. ‘I Wanna Be Yours’ is currently one of the 20 most listened to songs in the world.
Fortunately it was Steven Wilson himself who brought up the Arctic Monkeys name simply to praise them, although pointing out that they had come out “about 20 years ago”. But groups imitating Led Zeppelin, including some of their projects, no longer fit in his heart. “My father brainwashed me with Pink Floyd,” and it shows on his new album. But there are still many other different influences.