Steven Wilson has long sought to transcend genre and create his own musical universe, constantly reinventing his sound and challenging fans’ expectations. Looking back at his vast discography–eight solo albums, plus dozens more with other projects like Porcupine Tree, Blackfield, Storm Corrosion, and No-Man–it’s hard to argue that he hasn’t achieved this goal. The fact that such disparate songs like the shoegaze-y “Abandoner” (from 2008’s Insurgentes) and electro-pop anthem “Personal Shopper (from 2021’s The Future Bites) can even exist within the same body of work is a testament to Wilson’s versatility and ambition as an artist.
Whereas prior albums seemed to take shape around a centralized theme (such as the ‘70s progressive rock influence on 2013’s The Raven That Refused To Sing or ‘80s experimental pop stylings of 2017’s To The Bone), his last studio LP–September 2023’s The Harmony Codex–was far more eclectic. It seemed almost as if each of the ten songs on that album had been produced in a completely unique way, yet somehow he managed to weave all those diverse threads into a cohesive piece of art that could only be a Steven Wilson record.
So when it was revealed that he’d already begun work on a follow-up in early 2024–a mere few months after The Harmony Codex’s release–I was intrigued to hear where Wilson’s muse might take him next.
I’m thrilled to be able to officially share with you that my new album, The Overview will be released on 14th March. The album is based on the recognized phenomenon of the "overview effect," whereby astronauts seeing the Earth from space undergo a transformative cognitive shift; some experience an overwhelming appreciation and perception of the planet’s beauty, but others see the Earth truly for what it is – insignificant and lost in the vastness of space.
Steven Wilson, January 2025
Billed as a ‘return’ to more progressive waters, The Overview is composed of just two roughly 20-minute side-long epics–“Objects Outlive Us” and “The Overview”–each of which are made up of several shorter movements. These two longform compositions nicely balance out different sides of Wilson’s musical personality. The harder-rocking side 1 harkens back to earlier records like Grace For Drowning (2011) and Hand Cannot Erase (2015) with its greater focus on organic instrumentation–most notably, an incredible live drum performance by Russell Holzman–while side 2 leans heavier into the electronic elements featured throughout his prior two albums.
Perhaps more than any other album in his discography, The Overview shows off Wilson’s incredible gift for painting pictures with sound. Though I have yet to see the accompanying animated film created by Miles Skarin, just the music alone–especially when experienced in spatial audio–conjures up vivid otherworldly imagery straight out of iconic sci-fi films like Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) or Christopher Nolan's Interstellar (2014). There are definitely moments on this record, like the haunting string crescendo that ends side 1, where you really do get that uneasy feeling of staring out into infinite darkness.
Making a two-track experimental rock album centered around space travel might seem like just about the most uncommercial thing one could do in 2025, but you have to admire the bold and uncompromising nature of Wilson's vision. As eclectic as The Harmony Codex was, there were still two somewhat radio-friendly singles in “What Life Brings” and “Rock Bottom.” Here, that’s no longer the case. This time, your only choice is to listen through the entire album in one sitting–there are no pre-release singles, no radio edits, and no shortcuts of any kind.
The Overview is available in a variety of physical and digital formats, including a standalone Blu-Ray disc with high-resolution 5.1 surround sound and Dolby Atmos mixes (both vocal and instrumental versions) as well as a limited 2CD/Blu-Ray artbook edition–which additionally contains an orchestral version of “Objects Outlive Us” in both 5.1 and Atmos. The Dolby Atmos mix is also available to stream on Apple Music, Tidal, and Amazon Music.
Like its predecessor, The Overview was meant to be experienced in an immersive format. As good as the dedicated stereo mix sounds, the music unfolds in three dimensions around the listener in a way that simply isn’t possible with only two speakers. After all, it is certainly fitting that a song called “Objects Outlive Us” be presented using object-based audio.
The first movement of side 1, "No Monkey's Paw," opens with a falsetto vocal from the height speakers (‘I incline myself to space’), which then moves to the front stage (‘there was no ghost on the moor’). A harmony vocal enters from directly behind (‘no open window’), with keyboards percolating from the side surrounds and reverb circling the height array.
A descending piano riff from upfront–which recurs multiple times through the piece–takes us into the second movement, "The Buddha of the Modern Age." The chanting background vocals start first in the rear heights, then gradually fill up the entire room as the intensity builds.
"Objects: Meanwhile" really leans into the overview effect concept, with lyrics from XTC’s Andy Partridge cleverly contrasting the trivial concerns of average citizens on Earth with mind-bending cosmic phenomena like solar flares and black holes happening simultaneously on the other side of the universe. Wilson’s voice is isolated in the center speaker, but also appears at a reduced level in both the front and side channels.
There’s a real ‘made for Atmos’ moment starting at around 8 minutes in, where he brings in each pair of speakers in a 7.1.4 setup sequentially in a way that completely makes sense for the composition. It starts with the grungy bass break upfront, then the lead guitar part doubling the bassline appears centered in the side surrounds–seemingly floating in the middle of your head. A guitar harmony enters from the back, with the swirling synth up top and drums crashing all around at ear-level.
Acoustic guitars travel from rear-to-front as they fade in for "The Cicerones," eventually holding position between the front and side speakers (if you have a 9.1.4 or 9.1.6 system, they appear mostly isolated in the wide channels). "Ark" brings back the layered chanting vocals and piano melody from the second movement, which build to a furious crescendo just after the 14-minute mark. Piano and rhythm guitar duel front-to-back throughout "Cosmic Sons of Toil," with solos floating halfway up the front wall and the tambourine positioned directly behind the listener’s head.
"No Ghost on the Moor" offers a reprise of the intro section, now underpinned by drums and droning synthesizers. The snare delay travels up to the height speakers, with cavernous reverb filling the entire room. The final movement, "Heat Death of the Universe," features an extended guitar solo from Randy McStine (who performed live alongside Wilson during Porcupine Tree’s Closure/Continuation tour in 2022). As the solo fades out, ghoulish strings slowly travel from the rear surrounds up to the front heights.
Editor's Note: The Overview standalone Blu-Ray Audio edition features hi-res stereo (96/24), 5.1 surround sound (96/24), and Dolby Atmos (48/24) mixes–all in both vocal and instrumental versions, for a total of six different audio streams. The orchestral version of "Objects Outlive Us" in stereo, 5.1, and Dolby Atmos is exclusive to the three-disc deluxe edition, as are The Alterview bonus tracks (stereo-only).
“Permanence,” the first movement of side 2, opens with the sound of static from the center channel. Droning synths extend out from the front stage, while the electronic drums move to the side surrounds and a sequencer arpeggio continuously circles overhead. Wilson’s wife Rotem takes on the role of narrator (I imagine this to be the ship's computer, à la HAL-9000 or Portal's GLaDOS), naming increasingly-larger celestial objects such as the stars Polaris and Vega as the astronaut's spacecraft moves further away from Earth.
Acoustic guitars percolate from the side surrounds for "A Beautiful Infinity I," while the vocal echoes (‘rain is falling but it can’t be seen from here…’) float above the listener. The double-tracked bass part interestingly moves up to the front heights at around 6:30, while the guitar solo stays mostly locked to the center channel. A falsetto backing vocal drifts overhead throughout “Borrowed Atoms” (‘the clouds have no history…’) to very cool effect.
Layered vocals from both Wilson and McStine fill up the entire room for "A Beautiful Infinity II," with tambourine again floating out toward the back of the room. "Infinity Measured in Moments" features furious solos from McStine on guitar and Adam Holzman on keyboard, as the kaleidoscopic swirling synthesizers and ping-ponging digital percussion chaotically take over the entire space. This movement feels akin to the Millenium Falcon jumping to lightspeed in Star Wars, or Matthew McConaughey’s character being sent through the fourth-dimensional ‘tesseract’ at the end of Interstellar.
Side 2 concludes with a short ambient instrumental called "Permanence," featuring an overhead sax solo from longtime Wilson collaborator Theo Travis. It’s effectively the ‘calm after the storm,’ as if the protagonist's spacecraft has arrived at its alien destination after a rough interstellar journey.
For those not yet equipped to play Dolby Atmos music, the Blu-Ray disc also includes a DTS-HD 5.1 audio option. Steven Wilson is one of the few spatial mixers that continues to deliver dedicated six-channel surround sound, rather than simply re-rendering the Atmos master. The 5.1 mix is a bit less adventurous with sound in motion–some elements that move around the height speakers in Atmos (like the falsetto backing vocal in “Borrowed Atoms” and sax solo in “Permanence”) instead remain static in the rear channels–but ultimately still a highly-rewarding listening experience.
The instrumental versions in 5.1 and Atmos make for a fascinating listen as well, highlighting how sonically immaculate these recordings are–just listen to the forceful precision of every kick drum hit in “A Beautiful Infinity” or the crispness of the acoustic guitars in “Objects: Meanwhile.” I thought The Harmony Codex was his best-sounding record, but this one is at least as impressive if not more so.
Overall, The Overview marks yet another top-shelf entry in Steven Wilson’s multi-faceted discography. The immersive mix ranks among the very best I’ve ever heard, perfectly matching the album's cosmic ambitions. Simply lower the lights, strap yourself into the sweet spot, and enjoy the ride!
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