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"Steven Wilson's "The Harmony Codex" is a modern, emotionally-charged work of contemporary art, a fascinating exploration of music that is both electronic and organic."
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5/5
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Steven Wilson is elusive. His solo discography speaks for itself. His basic premise has not changed: never offer the same album twice in a row. Feeling unable to follow through on his previous move to modernize his music, the Englishman has decided to retain the electronic orientation of "The Future Bites", while having apparently taken a step back and learned from his "mistakes". One of them was to have forgotten that electronica needs strong melodies and sometimes a more organic input to trigger emotions and be totally catchy.
However, this new album is not a rehash of the previous one. If you listen carefully to "The Harmony Codex", you can feel the care that has gone into the compositions and sounds. Nothing has been left to chance, whether in the electronic-organic fusion or in the work on vocals, to which Steven Wilson is increasingly attentive. He seems to have completed his moult as a singer, realizing that the voice is a real instrument that can add value by playing with intonation and harmony. He even goes so far as to experiment with other ways of singing, such as the quasi-slam on the highly successful 'Actual Brutal Facts', which is strangely reminiscent of the work of Massive Attack.
Taken as a whole, the album is reminiscent of a journey into space, where the listener is alone with himself in a deceptively relaxing weightlessness. "The Harmony Codex" offers long, contemplative, essentially instrumental moments (the meditative 'The Harmony Codex'), leaving it to the music to transport the listener into his or her own thoughts. To achieve this mission, and as a kind of synthesis, Steven Wilson takes certain markers from his previous albums and transforms them to create a completely new work, without giving the impression of going round in circles. To help him in this process, we find Nick Beggs on bass, Ninet Tayeb, Theo Travis, David Kollar, Craig Blundell and the ever-present Adam Holzman. This greater presence given to "real" instruments (the return of guitar soli in 'What Life Brings', 'Rock Bottom' or 'Staircase', in which the huge bass lines must be emphasized) brings a warmth that was missing from "The Future Bites".
Some of the work of "Grace For Drowning" and "Closure / Continuation" can be found in the incredible instrumental "Impossible Tightrope", with its 70's progressive construction blending jazz fusion and electro masterfully after a rather atmospheric introduction. The duet with Ninet Tayeb on 'Rock Bottom', twin brother of 'Pariah' from "To The Bone", goes even further in the search for the purest possible emotion, where Steven seems to humbly step aside to leave more room for his accomplice. There's also a hint of Peter Gabriel inspiration ("Up") in the rhythm of "The Beautiful Scarecrow" (also reminiscent of "Insurgentes" in its oppression). The pinnacle of this balanced fusion of electro and organ is reached on 'Staircase', with its dynamic, uplifting and luminous first half contrasting with a more ethereal second half that borrows some passages from 'Harmony Codex' to conclude this return to earth in style.
With its flawless production, "The Harmony Codex" is a dense experience which, with its strong alternation between fusion electro and pop-rock tracks, could sometimes lose some of you along the way. You need to know how to abandon yourself to it (if possible with headphones) in order to delve deeper and discover its many riches. Steven Wilson has pulled off a masterstroke by proving that it is possible to provoke emotions with demanding modern music. He will undoubtedly have the merit of once again leaving no one indifferent. - Official website
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TRACK LISTING:
 01. Inclination
02. What Life Brings
03. Economies of Scales
04. Impossible Tightrope
05. Rock Bottom
06. Beautiful Scarecrow
07. The Harmony Codex
08. Time is Running Out
09. Actuel Brutal Facts
10. Staircase
LINEUP:
Nick Beggs: Basse
Steven Wilson: Chant / Guitares / Claviers / Percussions
Ninet Tayeb: Chant / Invité
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(0) MIND(S) FROM OUR READERS
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Top of the page
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(7) COMMENT(S)
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Plus j'écoute cet album et plus il me satisfait. Je ne sais pas si il s'adresse plus au cerveau ou au coeur, mais il s'adresse parfaitement à mes oreilles.
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@NEWF, loll, pas certain que je le soutiendrais si il passait au reggae. Je ne connais pas No Man. Je vais aller lire ta critique et ecouter No Man.
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@GHOSTKNIGHT
Je respecte bien évidemment ton opinion. Mais s’il te plait, ne présuppose pas de ce que j’aurais préféré ou pas. Je suis la carrière de Steven Wilson depuis "Coma Divine" de PT. J’ai apprécié tous ses virages stylistiques, même les plus electro (va lire ma chronique du dernier No Man si ça t’intéresse).
J’aurais juste aimé que "The Harmony Codex" soit un peu plus inspiré et surtout beaucoup moins plat. Sur beaucoup de titres (‘Inclination’, ‘The Harmony Codex’ entre autres), il ne se passe strictement rien, et Steven ne nous avait pas habitué à ça. Et s’il faut du matériel haut de gamme pour apprécier l’album, on en revient à l’élitisme que je pointais du doigt dans mon commentaire précédent.
Faire un album pour démonstrateur de chaines Hi-Fi n’est pas exactement ce que j’attends d’un artiste.
En tout cas, ce que je constate, vu les critiques dithyrambiques quasi unanimes de la presse, c’est que Steven Wilson est devenu intouchable. Si demain, il décide de fumer des bédos et de composer du reggae, beaucoup crieront encore au génie.
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En total désaccord avec @NEWF, je trouve l'album excellent, très équilibré. Bien sûr, ce n'est pas du Porcupine Tree (que j'adore), c'est peut-être ce qu'aurait préféré @NEWF, mais on ne peut reprocher à un artiste de talent, comme l'est Steven Wilson d'évoluer. je reconnais, que cet album est fait pour être écouté au casque et plusieurs fois, pour en saisir toutes les subtilités (cela fait au moins 5 fois que je me le repasse dans les oreilles et je ne cesse de faire des découvertes). Cet album est le contraire de chiant. Mais peut-être n'est-il pas fait pour toutes les oreilles.
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C’est vraiment dommage. A force d’intellectualiser sa musique à l’extrême, Steven Wilson ne me procure plus aucune émotion. La faute à son obsession de vouloir à tout prix se débarrasser de ses oripeaux de rockeur pour revêtir définitivement le costume d’artiste un peu snob et distant qu’il devient au fil des années.
Le problème, c’est que sa musique est de plus en plus prétentieuse. Et le constat est récurrent : viser à tout prix la perfection a toujours pour conséquence d’éloigner le public de l’auteur, qui s’enferme sans même s’en rendre compte dans un élitisme souvent irréversible.
"The Harmony Codex" me fait penser à certains films d’auteur des années 70, comme "Solaris" de Tarkovsky par exemple. C’est très beau, mais c’est chiant.
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Top of the page
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READERS
3.8/5 (17 view(s))
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STAFF:
3.4/5 (13 view(s))
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IN RELATION WITH STEVEN WILSON
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LAST INTERVIEW
STEVEN WILSON (FEBRUARY 11ST, 2025)
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Barely a ½ year after ‘The Harmony Codex’, Steven Wilson is already back with his eighth solo album ‘The Overview’, offering us a magnificent overview...
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OTHER REVIEWS
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OTHER(S) REVIEWS ABOUT STEVEN WILSON
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