Blackfield IV by Blackfield

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.

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