HAND. CANNOT. ERASE.

The consistency Steven Wilson manages to maintain from record to record is pretty staggering, and Hand Cannot Erase (periods omitted on purpose) is no exception; it's another stellar effort from the man. I like the mixture on this album, as you kind of get a little bit of every kind of music he has done over the year at some point, while never going too overboard with any one style. If you want the catchy shorter tunes, you get the title track or Happy Returns. If you want some prog, you get Ancestral or 3 Years Older. If you want the tunes with melodies that will crush you, you get Routine. If you want to get up and dance a little, you get Perfect Life. If you want to rock, you get Home Invasion. If you want some instrumental goodness, you get Regret #9. If you want folksy, acoustic stuff, you get Transience.

I don't love this record quite as much as SW's two previous solo albums, Grace for Drowning and The Raven That Refused to Sing, but it's still a 4.5 effort. I gave it 4 here since only the true 5 out of 5 records get rounded up to 5.