Hand. Cannot. Erase. by Steven Wilson

Hand. Cannot. Erase. by Steven Wilson, a 2015 concept album that tells the true story of Joyce Carol Vincent, a woman tragically found dead in her apartment two years after her death, unaccounted for in the meantime, despite having family and friends. It addresses the theme of alienation brought on by a society that, however hyper-connected, leaves almost no room for human contact, a social scourge more present than ever, especially in big cities: the value of friendship is reduced to a like on a post, a checkmark in a chat, where "how are you" have become mere phrases of convenience. This theme makes me prefer it, also thanks to the beautiful artwork, rich in content on the cover, on the vinyl records, and in the accompanying booklet (which you will find entirely photographed), making me prefer it, as I was saying, to any other Wilson album. If The Raven is perhaps the most beautiful from a technical and compositional point of view, this one sends a gigantic message in music and does so as a soundtrack, but not of a film, of the life of a woman and her incredible death.

I have spoken a lot about this artist , it is well known how much I admire him.

- A very atmospheric music that perfectly describes different moods with different sounds. We find melancholy, dreamy atmospheres, explosive anger and dismay. An album not without references, like the Genesis influences in 3 Years Older .

The piano and flute are magnificent, alternating with the powerful guitars. Wilson's vocals are perhaps among the finest of his solo works, and the excellent singer Nibet Tayeb is truly spine-chilling when she takes over, both in the choruses and in her screams of desperation.

The simplest and most essential songs are " Happy Returns" and "Perfect Life," with beautiful melodies and melancholic atmospheres, simple but perfectly in keeping with the album's mood. "Perfect Life" is extremely emotional, just what the album is meant to convey during the narrative phase. This last song appears with "Routine" on the B-side of the first vinyl and complements it wonderfully, with pure emotion.

- Regret stands out for its keyboard and guitar parts, very intense even in Ancestral which starts slow, almost muted, with a lot of electronics and "radio style" vocals, beautiful soft melodies, and then opens with a very emotional epic moment and heads towards the "Very Heavy" phase, towards reminiscences of a dark progressive metal sound that is not far from Opeth for some harmonies and atmospheres that light up after an interlude that is a virtuoso guitar and bass arpeggio, then the splendid drums enter, then the keyboards and the carpet of sounds, of deep bass, the emergency, the dismay in music, which excels until the end... and then flows into an interlude of flutes and psychedelic keyboards that resist when the progressive metal starts again... then a round of a few simple notes introduces Happy Returns, with its piano and the beautiful theme, one of the most beautiful melody of the album, with a beautiful vocal interpretation, poignant, at times touching and with his acoustic guitar...

Home Invasion - Regret - Transience series remains extraordinary , it could be a suite in three parts, it is a masterpiece sequence of progressive with its long instrumental parts in which there is everything I like, including a fusion turn, electric prog, psychedelic atmospheres, open and epic phases that alternate with distorted keyboards and hard and dry guitars almost underground and then again long Floydian guitars and then a phase of suspension, of anguished waiting, with a great solo of keyboards and drum games that hints at counter-times and launches accents that are never invasive, it could be a Jam but it is not, but that is the feeling, until the guitar enters decisively with its grandiose solo, the piece grows in a slow inexorable explosion, all the instruments become protagonists, the keyboards are an epic carpet on which the guitar "screams consonants"... The short passage to the piano is wonderful and then leaves space to an acoustic phase made of guitar arpeggios and vocals...

An album that combines superlative arrangements and great compositions, an evolution of the work of this great musician.

I personally find the albums that followed this one less powerful, not as strong overall, although excellent and with moments of great music in each of them.

I consider this a Must along with the three that preceded it. and which compete with it in quality and beauty.

As I said, in my personal opinion, given the overall concept, artwork, melody, masterful execution and production, this is Wilson's best album to date and in my top 20 of all genres.

Tracklist
1. First Regret (2:01)
2. 3 Years Older (10:18)
3. Hand Cannot Erase (4:13)
4. Perfect Life (4:43)
5. Routine (8:58)
6. Home Invasion (6:24)
7. Regret #9 (5:00)
8. Transience (2:43)
9. Ancestral (13:30)
10. Happy Returns (6:00)
11. Ascendant Here on... (1:54)
Durata 65:44

LineUp

- Steven Wilson - vocals, electric (3-7, 10) and acoustic (2, 4-6, 8, 10) guitars, banjo (7), keyboards, Mellotron M4000, bass (1, 2, 5-7), percussion dulcimer (9), shaker, effects, programming, backing vocals (5, 10, 11) and strings (9, 10), arrangements, production and mixing
Featuring:
- Leo Blair - lead vocals (5)
- Guthrie Govan - lead guitar (1, 2, 5-7, 9, 10)
- Dave Gregory - guitar (2, 10) and 12-string guitar (3)
- Adam Holzman - piano, Hammond B3, Fender Rhodes, celesta (3, 5, 9), Wurlitzer (7), Moog solo (7)
- Theo Travis - baritone saxophone and flute (9)
- Nick Beggs - bass (3, 9), Chapman Stick (4, 6, 10), backing vocals (2, 4-6, 9, 10)
- Marco Minnemann - drums
- Chad Wackerman - drums (10)
- Ninet Tayeb - backing vocals (3, 5, 9)
- Katherine Jenkins - vocals (4)
- Dave Stewart - backing vocals (5) and strings (9) arrangements
- Schola Cantorum of Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School - backing vocals (5, 10, 11)
- London Session Orchestra - strings (9, 10)