It’s been a busy year for Steven Wilson. Between remastering the best Suede album and putting together Requiem for a Village, the former Porcupine Tree member is releasing some of his best work. Preceding album The Overview was a remarkable, progressive-rock fixture that, after a few listens, begins to unravel its creative process. Wilson is remarkable at making albums that come apart, slowly and with purpose. Requiem for a Village is much the same as what has come before, not musically, but in a similar spirit to what he wishes to achieve with his music post-Porcupine Tree. Pulling in David Tennant as narrator and the incredible instrumental talents of Katherine Priddy is a huge statement of intent from Wilson, whose decision to build a folklore of his own with standing stones, the whispers of winter, and iconography associated with the mythology of the British Isles, works tremendously. He manages to contrast yet contain within Requiem for a Village the modern world and all its horrors, all those escapist desires.
Almost immediately, the influence of The Wicker Man can be felt. Wilson has often felt like an ambitious musician, pulling not just at themes and ideas barely contained in the music, but here he evokes such visual thrills with the instrumental purpose and alternative rock-heavy approach. The title track is a magnificent deep dive into what he hopes to get out of toying around with the film of the same name, the graveyard keeper reflecting on what was once a town with identity. Those heavy pangs of guitar and the crushing, almost overwhelming focus they’re given on the title track wipes out any chance of hearing the lyrical strengths Wilson has at hand, but it’s always great fun being swallowed up by those electric guitar thrills. Requiem for a Village feels a touch to scattershot to work, with its breaks for narration with Tennant proving to be little more than that, breaks from the music. It doesn’t offer all that much in the way of worldbuilding, just wispy breaks from the best part of Wilson’s work. His instrumental structure and what he sees as offering the best of this folklore style is well planted but somewhat lacking at times.
Now Departing feels far too close to the obvious influences that Wilson has cited. He’s not so much expanding on the ideas helmed by The Wicker Man as adapting the core elements of its story. This may be a little too much for Wilson to tackle. It’s style over substance for much of Requiem for a Village, but then the style is the substance he wishes to utilise. A few sharp moments for On Chapel Slope make all the difference here, the preceding songs and narration a cluster of welcome but forgettable moments. After that midpoint comes some of those inventive splashes that Wilson has become known for, and they stick in the mind just a little better. Heavier instrumentals and a moodier atmosphere overwhelms Requiem for a Village in these latter moments, and it serves Wilson’s aim and inspiration far better than the opening songs. Curus Fingerprint is a sign of what could come before Wilson transitions into some strange Jethro Tull riff on A Basket of Bees.
He’s just a flute away from giving Ian Anderson a run for his money. But Requiem for a Village may settle well with those wanting a touch of the gothic horror to Jethro Tull’s greatest hits. Wilson is nicely placed to do so and lets the influences of his latest album overwhelm his own creative input at points. It’s a mixed bag of results but what he has in store during the latter half of the album is enough to salvage a messy start. He riffs away in the latter half with some neat instrumentals but nothing as monumental as The Overview shines through. For those wanting a bit of a blowout then this is certainly worth hearing. Wilson has a knack for instrumentally moving experiences but lets his influences get the better of him here. He has an interesting mind for the progressive rock of the modern day, but not when it’s heavily reliant, and overshadowed exponentially by the works that inspired it.
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