GRACE FOR DROWNING

Grace For Drowning is the second solo album from Steven Wilson. Following 2008's Insurgentes, Wilson has been working with Robert Fripp on remixing some of 70's King Crimson albums. It seems to have really rubbed off on Wilson, as Grace For Drowning is a sprawling, adventurous affair that owes as much to the early, spacey Porcupine Tree material as it does to In the Court of the Crimson King, In the Wake of Poseidon, and Islands era King Crimson. Grace For Drowning take you on one emotional roller coaster ride after another, as it features soaring melodies, stunning soundscapes, chilling tonal colors, and monumental atmosphere. Highlights are many, but some of the standout tracks here include the ominous Mellotron driven "Sectarian", the sumptuous instrumentation and breezy melodies on "Deform to Form a Star", the charming, Blackfield influenced pop of "No Part of Me", and the monstrously haunting "Remainder the Black Dog", complete with jagged guitar lines, jazzy saxophone, mysterious piano, and Mellotron. And that's just on the first CD... Over on the second disc, you have the ambient, and somewhat creepy "Index", the spacey "Track One", the 23-minute epic "Raider II", and the moody pop of "Like Dust I Have Cleared From My Eye". And of course, as usual with Steven Wilson releases, sound quality is wonderful.