4 ½

'4½' is a 2016 EP/mini-album by Steven Wilson, a shorter but brilliant release that bridges the gap and connects his 2015 and 2017 studio albums, while remaining much more sonically pertinent to 'Hand. Cannot. Erase.' and its progressive pop experiments. Five of the six songs appearing on this EP are all-new recordings from recent sessions, refined and produced by Wilson himself, while the closing piece is a re-recoding of 'Don't Hate Me', a song appearing on Porcupine Tree's 'Stupid Dream' album, here featuring the majestic vocals of Ninet Tayeb, an important part of Wilson's progressive pop era. Furthermore, half of this EP is instrumental, which allows for an eclectic mixture of influences, moods, and tones, with some tracks bordering on fusion and improvisation, while others exude a psychedelic sensibility that was perhaps missing from 'H. C. E.' or 'To the Bone'. Entries like the pop-rock 10-minute-long opener 'My Book of Regrets' solidify Wilson as a master songwriter able to craft gorgeous pieces from scratch, while instrumentals like 'Year of the Plague' and 'Vermillioncore' definitely depict the more progressive and experimental side. 'Happiness III' and the closing track are the more emotive numbers on here, and the entire '4½' mini-album is an excellent intermediate work that concludes one great albums and lets another one take off on a high note. (And yes, it is just a minute shorter than 'Close to the Edge', which allows us to understand how much the notions of LP and EP have diverted through the decades)

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