THE FUTURE BITES

The act of "crossing over" in music - a term that specifically implies bridging the gap between pop and another given genre, usually where the latter is the artist's usual idiom - is always fraught. Within my broad scope of listening, I am quite familiar with the backlash that any given musician or band tends to receive for doing so, whatever their intentions or the ultimate results of going pop. Furthermore, the path that Steven Wilson has gone on to embrace electronic pop rock is itself not surprising or particularly unique. I think of the career trajectory of a quite different group, Arcade Fire, whose last two studio LPs Reflektor and Everything Now were polarizing for fans as they moved into ever more synth-based, danceable indie pop. Thing is, Arcade Fire have always been a rather poppy, anthemic band, even as they once used Old World instruments like mandolins, accordions, and hurdy- gurdys. Those records should not have been that unexpected. Swilson, as has been mentioned above, has flirted with crossover elements for more than two decades, so The Future Bites does not shock or faze me. The problem - and there obviously is one - is that he hasn't always been the best at it. While Porcupine Tree crossed over well, I've never been a fan of Blackfield and I find Hand Cannot Erase and To The Bone to be outright embarrassing. To the point, I find The Future Bites to be some of his best prog pop to date and a welcome shake up after his last few solo albums, but it is still a rather flawed record that shows some of his deepest weaknesses.

Part of what holds back TFB is how he uses the electro-pop elements. These are in-and-of-themselves handled well enough but are also run of the mill for the genre. Wilson and his backing musicians do little to differentiate most of the album from similar artists. This is not to say that I don't enjoy most of it, as they thump and arpeggiate their dour cries, yet it is not as gripping as you'd hope. Indeed, the bonus cuts are some of the best and most unique of the project, with excellent electronics and sometimes even replete with his guitar, played in ways new to him. Furthermore, "Unself" really should have been the longer version included in the deluxe package. More interesting instrumentally is the back half of the record, as it unfolds into some of Wilson's best takes on his unnervingly blissful kind of prog with "Follower" and "Count of Unease", modern updates on what made his '70s revivalism so successful driven by piano and dark old-school synths. "Personal Shopper" is also the best of the album's pop on every level, given a dystopian, happy-go-lucky beat that gives the cut thematic whiplash and power.

As to the lyrics, there are also mixed results. Whereas in the past Wilson has often struggled to connect his lyrics with the concepts he builds many of his projects around, he has achieved synergy on TFB, as he gives his own darker answer to the aforementioned Everything Now's critique of clout and consumerism via a quasi-concept of a titular megacorporation. Again, "Personal Shopper" shows particular strength through the repetitious verses of buying for esteem and country. On the other hand, these are overall some of his weakest and most cliched lyrics to date, even for him. Try to tell me that you didn't expect him to rhyme "take it" with "fake it" as soon as you heard the former on "Man of The People"! And even then, most of the thematic resonance of the record comes from the music videos more than the actual songs.

Going into listening to The Future Bites, I was obviously struck by the hostility to the pop elements, but upon hearing it I can understand why. It's one thing to hold your nose to that kind of music, but while TFB demands progheads have an open mind to other genres, it also demands of all listeners a willingness to take it, warts and all, in service of a solid concept and decent songs. Even after HCE and TTB, and even as I don't expect Wilson to stick to a given kind of prog, I expect him to make magic with the genres he works with, and there are only flashes of that on The Future Bites. Or to describe it the way I did on my first listen: "It's fine". Nothing more.