THE HARMONY CODEX

This week, I'll be reviewing vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Steven Wilson's 2023 release, "The Harmony Codex." Wilson, is of course, the man behind Porcupine Tree, Blackfield, Bass Communion and is a partner with Tim Bowness in No-Man and recorded "Storm Corrosion" with Opeth's Mikael Akerfeldt. He is also renowned for his production and re- mixing skills, having remixed many classic prog albums. He is one of the busiest and most in demand people in the prog world. "The Harmony Codex," is Wilson's seventh full-length solo studio album and currently most recent as of the time of this writing, although he has a new album set to be released on March 14, 2025, called "The Overview."

"The Harmony Codex," (THC going forward) is inspired by a story that Wilson wrote for his autobiographical book, "Limited Edition of One," (which i have not read) , although it is not a straight narrative. There are some expanded editions with many bonus tracks, but I am reviewing the 10 tracks on the standard edition.

Without further ado, let's dive in. Track 1 - Inclination

It begins with a middle eastern, almost snake-charmer-like sound. Drums and percussion enter, but not a standard drum set. The style continues after a brief pause and the instrumentation begins to expand. This intro would make a good belly dancing track. No guitars as of yet, wind instruments, (possibly) keyboards and ethnic percussion and making the music here. The music fades out in favor of quiet sound effects by 2:45, then Wilson begins to sing a cappella. Piano and synth sounds join him, then the groove returns around 3:30. There is another pause in the rhythm around 5:45. There is a guitar solo near the end along with all of the other layers of sound. It's not a bad track, but it didn't blow me away either.

Track 2 - What Life Brings

A drum fill kicks this one off, and we are in a mid-tempo 4-4. There is acoustic guitar, piano, bass, drums and a synth bed underneath along with the vocals. Wilson's fantastic vocal harmony style appears before the 1-minute mark. There are nice vibrato electric guitar flourishes. This is more of the classic Steven Wilson sound I am looking for. There is a nice guitar solo at around the 2 minute mark. Another harmonized verse follows. I really like this track; it has a great sound to it. Israeli singer Ninet Tayeb is singing on this one with him. Guy Pratt of Pink Floyd sideman fame plays bass here. Wonderful song!

Track 3 - Economies of Scale

Electronic sounds with a drum machine start this one off. The vocals join in with some piano accompaniment over the intro rhythms. It appears that this is mostly Wilson here with only Adam Holzman appearing on "modular synthesizer." Nice acoustic guitar sounds end on the second verse. I was looking to see if there was a second vocalist for the high- pitched vocal part, but I see no one listed. I like the vocal arrangement in the second half of the song. The song just ends on a vocal line. Some interesting things are happening, but it's still not my favorite Steven Wilson track.

Track 4 - Impossible Tightrope

This is the longest song on the album at 10:44. It begins with a solo violin by Ben Coleman. formerly of No-Man. Nice synth strings eventually take over. A subtle drumbeat joins the mix. By 1:15 a syncopated rhythm comes in with guitar & bass joining the drums, but the string sounds are still sustaining along with it. The groove is 7-8. By 1:55, the strings drop out and the 7-8 rhythms are in charge. At 2:40, the music quiets down and acoustic guitar takes over until around 3:00 when the rhythm explodes back in along with a wild sax solo. At 3:40 the rhythm stops again and everything gets quiet, until piano takes over at around 4 minutes. High pitched vocals join-in. But the 7-8 returns around 5:15. The groove is almost 70s Genesis-like. Choir-like vocals accompany the lead vocal. A new guitar riff joins in after a verse. There is a LOT going on here, and I am loving it. Many rhythm changes are happening by the time we have reached 7 minutes. It feels like the album finally kicked into high gear. A keyboard solo happens after 7 minutes. There are melodies on the instruments that are doubled by wordless vocals. I realized that the meter shifted from 7-8 to 6-8 at some point. Just before 10 minutes the rhythms stop in favor of sustained sounds to close out the track. This is definitely my favorite track, so far. GREAT PROG!

Track 5 - Rock Bottom

Ninet Tayeb returns on this one to the degree that she is co credited with Wilson on this one as the artist. Not sure how to describe the intro sounds on this one; kinda dreamy, but in a disturbing way. Then Ninet's vocals come in with subtle guitar and synth backing. At 1:24, the full band kicks in. Wilson and Tayeb sing in unison as the next verse begins. The tempo is a slow 4-4 with a descending chord pattern. The intensity builds as the song proceeds. A guitar solo explodes in at around 3 :25. The song concludes with her emotional vocals with subtle backing. Good track!

Track 6 - Beautiful Scarecrow

Random sounding synth sounds kick this one off and electric piano and a subtle drum part establish a rhythm. This one is spacy and psychedelic. Wilson's vocals have an effective effect on it. The song begins building around 1:45. Then it eased back off again. A beat kicks in at 3:12. Another verse returns as the music eases off again around 4:25. That closes out this interesting track. Pretty good.

Track 7 - The Harmony Codex

Sound effects start off the title track, perhaps wind, or the void of space. By around 1 minute, an arpeggiated melody emerges, which is a bit unsettling. Wilson's wife, Rotem, provides a spoken word narrative about taking in the vastness of space. The arpeggiated chords continue in their wobbly way. I guess this is meant to accompany our trip through space? Additional instrumentation joins in and the music becomes gradually stronger, with more bottom end. I keep expecting this to go somewhere, but I don't think it is, other than adding more layers of instrumentation. Things begin to mellow just before 8 minutes. Rotem returns with more narration at the end of the song. Ahh, It was all a dream! Not bad, but not one of my favorites.

Track 8 - Time Is Running Out

Mellow piano arpeggios lead Wilson's vocals in. A drum machine rhythm kicks in at around 1 minute, along with a bit of acoustic guitar. The vocals begin to harmonize and build up by around 1:30. At about 1:50, there is a processed bass voice, but I can't make out whether it is actually saying anything. Following that the dynamics continue to increase with the vocals. A guitar solo follows. The bass voice follows, along with accents on the drum machine. The piano and some synth effects abruptly end the song. I like this one, I can see it growing on me.

Track 9 - Actual Brutal Facts A clean guitar riff with delay starts this one, along with some bass accents. A funky beat kicks in and some atmospheric keys join. I could hear this one being on a PT album. He is talk-singing the first verse, then there are some guitar lines in between the verses. The second verse uses a similar style, vocally. I suppose one could call it a rap. There is a pause in the rhythm at around 3:15, with sustained sounds. Then the guitar brings the rhythm back, before the band explodes. There is a psychedelic guitar solo as the song nears completion. The rhythm stops with a few seconds remaining, excepting an electric piano part. Pretty good.

Track 10 - Staircase

A synth riff starts this one. Bass and bass drum accent the beat. A rhythm gets established, and Wilson begins singing. I love when the rhythm section kicks in hard at around 1:30. Cool guitar solo around 2:10. The synth wash behind the solo and rhythm section is quite nice. Synth riffs fill in before the next verse begins. There is a bridge with vocal ahhs over the rhythm. Awesome bass solo at around 5 minutes! The music pauses around 5:45, then some simple piano chords take over. A synth starts playing a countermelody with the piano. Rotem provides more narration echoing lines from the title track. Synth lines follow with around a minute left. That brings us to the conclusion of the song and the album.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:

While there are some good tracks on the album, It does not come close to "The Raven that Refused to Sing," for me, or even "Grace for Drowning," and what I have heard from "Hand. Cannot. Erase." My favorite by far is "Impossible Tightrope." I have seen that many people were very impressed with the album, but it is leaving me wanting. I'll give it a disappointing 3.75 out of 5 stars. Maybe "The Overview," will be more what I am looking for. The early info shows that he recorded it with only Randy McStine (Guitars), Adam Holzman (Keys) and Craig Blundell (Drums) along with him, so it seems more like a rock band effort.

Clicked 4 , but really 3.75.