The third solo album from one of the world’s most prolific music masterminds. An album, written for a specific band to play, having the great progressive era of the early 70s in mind.
Now, I grabbed the special edition of The Raven That Refused To Sing in Wrocław, Poland for only 67 zł, about the same price as is on sale in the UK-based Burning Shed online store, minus the shipping. The deluxe rigid digibook contains the standard audio-CD, the DVD with the 96/24 stereo LPCM, plus two 5.1 mixes of the album (which I can’t review as I don’t possess the necessary 5.1 sound system). Besides, one finds an art gallery (by artist Hajo Mueller), a photo gallery (by photographer and director Lasse Hoile) and a studio documentary video (by Hoile as well) on the DVD. A booklet with album art and the song lyrics is sewn into the digibook.
Now the music itself (but I’ll be brief as I’ve planned this as an edition review rather than a musical review).
When I await a new Steven Wilson album, I expect it with some trepidation. I always expect from him accessible, yet experimental music, breathtaking harmony-wise, yet featuring daring experimentation, breaking the standards of “mainstream” prog-rock, yet still being very much part of the genre.
The standards the man himself sets should be even higher. But what really leaves me in the unknown is where the road of constant change will take the Hemel Hempstead-based prodigy this time. Well, this particular time it has taken Wilson on the road of palpable jazz influences and the 70s progressive rock Golden Era. Having witnessed two solo releases from Steven thus far, I was half-expecting the new album to sound in the vein of the live version of his second solo effort, the much acclaimed Grace for Drowning (2011). Indeed, it had been announced from the onset that Wilson was composing for the new album with his live band in mind, which had played the first two albums during the first two world solo tours.
And I did feel the sonic continuity of the new record with the live shows of the Grace for Drowning 2011-2012 tour, which I myself caught up with in the Hala Wisła venue in Kraków in 2011. The line-up remaining nearly the same (with the exception of the new hire – wonder-guitarist Guthrie Govan of The Aristocrats and Asia fame, also a highly respected guitar teacher), Wilson managed to build on the early 70s’ progressive music climes. I’ve enjoyed the record as a whole and as a collection of six macabre musical journeys into the netherworld and the brooding human soul. No drastic departure here from SW’s favourite themes. The presence of two respected jazz players (woodwind player Theo Travis and pianist Adam Holzman) in the lineup could not have possibly led to a new direction veer off.
In terms of musical production, the album is impeccable, which comes as no surprise to a long-time listener of the UK musical prodigy. Listening to the 96/24 stereo version to be found on the DVD is a real treat to any music connoisseur. Amateurish though my judgment is, I’ve felt enthralled by the clarity and overall crispness of the sound and the way all the instruments jell together in a fascinating old-school way, like you’re listening to the music jammed live. However, one can’t help noticing it’s got a modern feel too, giving one an impression of the olden days revisited inspirationally, with no mindless copycatting.
The eerie quality of the songs, each based on a death or ghost-related main theme, was well underpinned by brooding soundscapes and heart-breaking melodies. Guthrie did a fantastic job of giving the songs (especially Drive Home and the title track stand out in this respect) poignancy of irrevocable loss mixed with faint hoping.
Once you see the DVD menu, stylized to be in line with the album artwork, you can navigate around the different features, including the 96/24 stereo. During playback, a fancy background with the Raven is displayed on your player.
In terms of the contents, I did find one thing sadly missing. I wish I could read Wilson’s self-penned ghost stories that are featured in the deluxe edition, but have been omitted from the special edition entirely.
Now to Hajo Mueller, the German artist who is the dominant visual force on this project, with Wilson’s long-time collaborator, Dane Lasse Hoile, being quite sidelined this time. Mueller came up with a series of cartoons for the artwork and the title song video, which, in my opinion, very well reflect the dense and macabre atmosphere of the haunted songs comprising the album.
He did especially well with his stills for the “Raven That Refused To Sing” official video. Some of the stills are part of the reviewed edition’s artwork.
The photo gallery on the bonus DVD is Lasse Hoile’s contribution to the project and is a nice capture of the recording process, done in the usual Hoilesque black-and-white style. I found myself wishing for better resolution quality of the images, though.
The documentary is an extended version of the four video clips from the Los Angeles studio, which were posted regularly on Wilson’s official website via YouTube soon after the recording sessions were over.
One setting that was added in this short film – it’s the recording of the strings for the album by the London Session Orchestra. One of the funnier moments in the documentary is bass and Chapman stick player Nick Beggs sporting his two trademark blonde plaited braids and fooling around during breaks, mocking on his band mates and being, perhaps, the cheeriest of all the band.
On the whole, the documentary offers a great insight into the Steven Wilson’s band “routines” and may prove an absorbing watch even for a fan. It reveals Steven’s newly adopted recording approach, which has all the musicians playing in one room at the studio together to render the ultimate songs the vibe of simultaneous recording/jamming, a method Wilson says he very much prefers to separate recording of different instruments and vocals in booths.
By way of concluding my review, I want to say I haven’t in the least been disappointed by the music itself and I find the special edition to be good value for money. The album will certainly make it to my end-of-year top releases list for 2013.
