BLACKFIELD

A listener of Porcupine Tree / Steven Wilson should have no problem liking this project too. Wilson is teamed with an Israeli called Aviv Geffen, whose vocals happen to be very similar to Wilson's. The songs are simpler in structure than PT's, but sonically they are clearly from the same well. Most songs are written together, only one by Geffen alone ('The Hole in Me' is also the weakest one, I think). I presume Wilson is mostly in charge of the composing and arranging; from earlier reviews I gather that Geffen is a pop musician.

Yes, you might say this is a bit closer to pop than Porcupine Tree, but not so much that you need to be doubtful. It's obviously less edgy but not completely without dark, angry edges familiar from PT. Atmospheres are generally melancholic, dreamy, sad, introspective - the same adjectives I'd use with PT. If someone had introduced this album to me blindfold as a PT product, I wouldn't have doubted, only would have been surprised by the lack of proggier or edgier material.

The main disc is not even 37 minutes, so I wonder why there's a separate bonus disc of three songs (one being a live version of an album song and at least one of the other two appearing on Blackfield II). There probably was also some video stuff which I haven't yet checked out.