.jpeg "The Road of Bones by IQ")
.jpeg "Subterranea by IQ")
.jpeg "Lateralus by TOOL")
Blackfield IV, Blackfield's fourth album, was released in 2013. Steven Wilson appears only as a collaborator on some vocals and guitar contributions, and is also responsible for mixing. This choice was dictated by Wilson's own expressed desire to focus more on his solo career and that of Porcupine Tree, without definitively abandoning a project that had lasted years.
This album is clearly aimed at a more accessible, radio-friendly audience, with a shift from progressive rock to a more mainstream, pop sound.
On this album, Aviv Geffen, who composed and produced most of the album, is the dominant creative force, with excellent songwriting. The arrangements, with the addition of strings, are beautiful.
My favorite tracks are "Pills," the top track, featuring Wilson's vocal and instrumental contributions, as well as "Kissed by the Devil" and "Jupiter."
This album echoes the dreamy atmospheres of the previous chapters, a progressive-inspired art rock, very delicate and technically impeccable, which adds nothing new to what we have already heard and appreciated so far and which I therefore appreciate very much considering that I love all of Steven Wilson's projects and this is no exception, a "light" album, with a lightness that is sometimes needed. Like today.
Note: All links to the musicians' works are in the TAGS under the article title or on the "Artists" page.
Tracklist
1. Pills (3:34)
2. Springtime (2:24)
3. X-Ray (2:36)
4. Sense of Insanity (3:23)
5. Firefly (2:46)
6. The Only Fool Is Me (1:54)
7. Jupiter (3:46)
8. Kissed by the Devil (3:03)
9. Lost Souls (2:57)
10. Faking (3:33)
11. After the Rain (1:26)
Duration 31:22
LineUp
- Aviv Geffen - lead vocals (2, 4, 8-10), Mellotron (1-3, 7, 8), Hammond (1, 2, 8), piano (7, 8), keyboards, electric and acoustic guitars (5, 7, 10), bass (3, 5, 7, 8), bells (3), xylophone (5), producer
- Steven Wilson - lead vocals (4, 7, 9), electric and slide guitars (2, 6), bass (9), mixing
- Eran Mitelman - piano (10)
- Seffy Efrati - bass (2, 10)
- Tomer Zidkyahu - drums, tambourine (10)
Featuring:
- Vincent Cavanagh - vocals (1, 3)
- Brett Anderson - vocals (5)
- Jonathan Donahue - vocals (6)
- Alex Moshe - backing vocals (1, 7)
- Kid - guitar (4)
- Ofer Meiri - keyboards and programming and bells (4)
- Tali Glaser - harp (6)
- The London Session Orchestra - strings and French horn
