HARRIDAN

As unbelievable as it seems, Porcupine Tree are back, and with news spreading faster than ever, it seems unlikely that anyone has remained uninformed on the matter. The legendary 2000s prog rock outfit announced their return after some 12 years of non-existence, and above all, they return with a new album that has virtually been in the making for this exact period of time; The fantastic news also come along with a new single from the upcoming eleventh studio release by Steven Wilson & Co., named explicitly or not, 'Closure/Continuation'. It is also important to mention that the band comes back as a trio, with SW handling the guitar, the bass and the vocals, alongside fellow band mates Richard Barbieri and Gavin Harrison; Unfortunately, Colin Edwin seems to longer be part of the band.

With all this cleared out, the focus can go back to the band's new single 'Harridan', a song that has been 'in-the-making' ever since they had completed 'The Incident' sessions. And it genuinely sounds like something that could fit very well either this album or 'Fear of a Blank Planet', with the soaring guitars, the crunchy bass (which happens to be played by Wilson; and it should come as no surprise that the bass line is so quirky, as I can recall Nick Beggs commenting on Wilson's 'strange' technique of bass playing in some sort of tour documentary from around 2017) and the grim lyrical content. And on that note, we could say: forget about 'The Future Bites', forget about No-Man, forget about the latest Blackfield (which SW ended up only producing); This really is the Porcupine Tree that people crave, and this new song is quite tremendous, quite unusual but very memorable. Briefly put, it is hard to remain indifferent to it, especially with all the announcements made, so hopes are quite high for the upcoming release, and if this is the first taste of it, one can only wonder how much better it gets.

It's almost like they never left. Maybe it has something to do with being a Deadwing era cut brought back and updated like a once forgotten outtake from Bob Pollard's suitcase, but "Harridan" is the triumphant return of 2000's style PT in ways I'm sure no one expected. Much of the song is driven by a frenetic bassline that is at once impressive yet perplexing with the reformed PT being a trio sans Colin Edwin; is Wilson showing ever greater mastery of bass guitar, or use of effects petals to make one of his six strings into a spectacular analogue? As the track develops, both Wilson on guitar and Barbieri on the keys and synths switch between displays of power on the choruses, and quiet questioning and contemplation through the verses and bridges, following their mid-aughts formula to new heights. Harrison's drumwork remains as brilliant as ever across the cut as well. As to the lyrics, their fractured portraits of pain, loss, and cold death make for some of Wilson's best and most open-ended. They are quite befitting their original context of the almost-concept-album Deadwing in countless ways.

As for my final thoughts: considering how I among many other listeners have sought comparisons to Swilson's solo The Future Bites for the track (not to mention the aesthetics of the artwork), "Harridan" makes me think that TFB - however partially flawed - fits in more with PT than even I originally thought. Certainly any TFB elements in "Harridan" work spectacularly. And with the greatness and context of "Harridan", I am assured and excited for Closure/Continuation, which may yet be alike, and as wonderful if not more so, than Recordings.