SW~Harmony Codex

As to "What Life Brings": another fantastic cut, at first glance one of Swilson's better takes on the particular prog pop idiom he's had a lot of solo work done in during and since the literally half-assed To The Bone. It is a thing of elevated and restrained beauty, a song about love and subsequent loss that shows Wilson deftly simplifying his style rather than blowing it into his usual brobdingnagian scale (and often similarly gigantic excellence, mind you). This cut has an obvious companion piece with PT's "Harridan", which is itself (as I have said on this site already) a tis-better-to-have-loved-and-lost theme, if there done with some venom for the loved to match the jackknife metal-informed instrumentals. This also may just be the best music video associated with The Harmony Codex, dueling with the interplay of Steven and Ninet for "Rock Bottom", which shows not only the loved but the lover dancing together in the wake of a likely fatal car accident in the vein of the mighty Yves Tumor's instant classic "Kerosene" MV. Lust and potential drip from our couple as Mr. Wilson observes and directly addresses us proghead listeners/watchers with the tender thoughts of our star-crossed narrator.

MikeEnRegalia wrote: ^ That solo is not SW though - it’s Niko Tsonev. Beautiful!

Wow! I'm a bit late to "Rock Bottom" like I usually am to new music. But this is not only a beautiful cut but one that reinvents the kind of early 2000s post-grunge butt rock-alt rock sound into something truly beautiful and profound. I've been desperately waiting for SWilson to work with the mighty Ninet Tayeb in a way that truly emphasized her abilities, artistry, and VOICE to their maximum potential and it is HERE. Or at least this is part of what her voice can be, over the next decade at least I hope that we will see more of this and MORE from her. But to turn around to Mr. Wilson and his upcoming solo record that I have the utmost expectations for recently, he has given Tayeb a stunning and gorgeous soundscape anchored by some of his most powerful personal vocalizations, which he crucially harmonizes with. The solo here - which I can only presume is him at some of his more restrained and Pink Floyd inspired, as in his aesthetically whiplash youth - is a fitting and wonderful send-off. I will hazard a guess that The Harmony Codex will continue this 21st Century prog brilliance into grand if not better ends... but we will obviously have to see and hear soon.

Edited by LearsFool - September 17 2023 at 00:28

Catcher10 wrote: Yea Ninet is the star of this one....Her vocals are striking. The song is just fine, I'm indifferent about it. SW should not do these videos where he is suppose to act out something.....Prog people don't do this well at all

Indeed. I did not mind the time when you saw very little of the members in PT and SW solo. At first I wondered if the video for Nowhere Now from TTB was a joke.

He’s got some great music videos to his name, but they don’t feature himself.

It's strange because it isn't the style of music I gravitate to but of the three released so far, I like Rock Bottom better than the other two. I'm weird. 

LearsFool wrote: Just gave "Impossible Tightrope" a couple listens. Putting aside The Future Bites this is some of his best work in years and shows Wilson stretching his wings creatively in ways we haven't really seen him do in his music before. Granted, some of it is kinds of "conventional" prog that while common haven't been his bag previously (especially the wonderful sax work) but he and his backing musicians put an excellent and eclectic spin on it. Maybe The Harmony Codex will turn out to be a more modernist sibling to The Raven in that sense. I'm certainly curious as to exactly who among the announced "guests" and/or backing musicians are playing where. Longtime associates Craig Blundell on drums and Adam Holzman on keys are in the mix, plus the drummers from Interpol and Kneebody. Jack Dangers is doing some keys as well. What and how much have they done? I can only assume that Blundell and Holzman likely contributed to "Impossible Tightrope". And who exactly laid down that sax?

I've been listening to it via Apple (''lossless'') although my Sonos speaker didn't like it and spat it back at me!

I think I would give that new track a 7/10. I think it could do with some better mixing. I feel like the bass should be louder; drums in the first half should be louder, second half just a nudge louder; the vocalizations could be a bit quieter in the mix; the keys solo is nice, but I feel it would have sounded better with a different keyboard (or VST or whatever he is using these days) - imagine what that solo would have sounded like on a Minimoog or an ARP (or the equivalent VST). The keyboard he chose is neat sounding, but it doesn't feel right for this song. It's not a bad song. It just seems like it needs more work. Sorry for being so pedantic. I sometimes like to pick things apart. 

Edited by progaardvark - September 06 2023 at 15:24

It's a good track imo