INSURGENTES

Insurgentes finds Wilson in a boundless creative mood, stretching his legs in jazzy, trip, ambient and more then once also in new wave territories. The format is much loser and freer then it has been on recent Porcupine Tree albums and reaches far beyond normal prog territory.

Of course it's recognizably Wilson. I mean, you should not expect the man has suddenly developed a deep baritone or made a reggae album. But the music is very different from Porcupine Tree's recent prog approach. So I'm hardly surprised the album doesn't click well with all prog purists. In fact, this album had better been promoted to an entirely different target audience instead. (Hmm, can you notice I had a meeting with marketing this morning?) Anyway, I'm sure this album could have reached many of the open-minded Cure, Depeche Mode or Portishead fans out there that have been hiding out in their caves for the last 20 years deploring the downfall of good dark music.

Yes dark and gloomy it is. And because every track is so excellent I'll even kick my lazy bum into action and do some kind of song by song overview! 'Harmony Korine' is our link with Porcupine Tree. It's a pop-sensible take on Fear of A Dark Planet with an absolutely gorgeous chorus, easily obliterating all things Muse in its course. 'Abandoner' finds Portishead veering off into pure white noise directions. 'Salvaging' is a very gothic track with an entrancing bass line that reminds me of something 80's but I can't put my finger on it. I'll let you know if I ever find out. 'Veneno Para Las Hadas' is one of the brilliant ballads on the album. It uses the same slide guitar loop that Wilson used on his recent revision of The Sky Moves Sideways. 'No Twilight' is the odd proggy beast of the album. Starting with a strong free-jazz guitar solo that fades away into a dark minimalist middle part. Wilson is really at his balladry best on Insurgentes. 'Significant Other' is another winner that stays far away from the cheap melodrama that Lazarus fell blindly into. With the dazzling chorus it sits right next to Heartattack in a Layby. Next comes '17 Seconds'. Or no ? 'Only Child' it is called here! The closing 3 pieces are just some more proof of Wilson's rule in creating stunning ambient ballads.

As if all that wasn't enough yet, there's some extra tracks for special edition owners. Of particular interest are 'Collecting Space', the superb Depeche Mode/Nine Inch Nails study 'Untitled' and 'A Forest'. Oh no wrong again. 'Puncture Wound' it is called I believe. The sneaky Cure-thief!

Hot on the Heels of the prog masterpiece that was Fear of a Blank Planet, Wilson is back with this more introvert but equally appeasing masterpiece of new dark experimental prog wave. Yes, I like genres that feature only one album in their ranks. So, needless to say it's the best album in its genre :-)

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