Not my cup of tea, but I feel like solo artists should be free to explore whatever genre they want, don't really get the fans on his facebook and youtube freaking out over one song.

I laughed the first time I heard this because the piano just hits you out of nowhere but in all seriousness I do enjoy this. I can appreciate what he was going for with this tribute of sorts to 70s pop and it'll be a fun one live I'm sure.

This is just something I've noticed over the years and I didn't know where else to put it so I'll just leave it here:

Steven doesn't half love to harp on about the concepts and inspirations for his albums in interviews and pre-release material.
Around the time of FOABP was coming out he was going on loads about antidepressants for children and the media, when The Incident was out he was talking loads about that time he was on a motorway and noticed how vague the term "incident" was.

Then when Raven was out he was going on about ghost stories, especially Whistle and I'll Come To You. Then when HCE was out it was nothing but isolation, the disconnected nature of the cities and Carol Joyce Vincent and now here we are with To The Bone where he's going on about 80s pop, Tears For Fears, ABBA, Kate Bush, etc.

Point being he loves to work an idea to death (trains anyone?)

i like it a lot tbh

Once you get over the initial shock it is fun

better than his other stuff and kinda fun but it's shockingly hollow

^ I think that's kind of the point and there's a self awareness about it too

he doesn't have the vocals or the personality to carry a song like this. the production doesn't do him any favors either.

[2 @ tuna] yea

i thought he was gonna do a cover :[

@Cyg I'd say the vocals are fine but yeah this something I could imagine 70s Elton John doing a better job of. Still I think he just about pulls it off.

@Asdfp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=395nKeD6X78

i thought this was ok

liking the cover tho >:] thnaks

Dear god steven wilson is bad enough already, then you go and add abba influences? My insides hurt

He's a little young to be going senile.

For anyone interested he talks about Permanating a bit more here:
https://youtu.be/bQ4v4_Ekyrk?t=13m4s

this song made me laugh harder than I have in the past month

I think he's losing it.

I could imagine this as a Phil Collins song

This isn't more "shocking" than some mid-career PT stuff. I'm more shocked by the superfluous backlash, given that. Context is everything though. Even I was taken aback a bit when I first heard this, despite it being an actually pretty awesome and uplifting tune.

This could either be one of his best or his worst albums (which is still not bad by SW standards). He called The Raven "ambitious" when that was released, but this is far more so. Either way it's always good to see him evolving, it'll be an entertaining release.

an artist exercising artistic freedom

call the press

Not what I expected. I actually think his voice fits this style pretty well, for what it's worth.

Yeah kinda Phil Collins on here but Phil Collins radio work was iffy at best.

This shakes my hips.

I was excited by the prospect of him doing something do different, and to be honest, I'm dissapointed. I found the song to be kinda boring and unmemorable.

Love it. It's like when NIN released 'Everything' out of nowhere.

I'm okay with the idea of this, but I really don't think his voice fits the song, giving it sort of a hollow feel

I like this

I think the fact that he's paying tribute to some of his favourite acts he grew up with is really charming in itself.

I like this as well

Just an out-of-the-box fun pop song he wanted to do, nothing to lose your shit over because 'he should remain on his turf' bullshit.

The fade out at the end is a bit lazy, but eh, fits pop I guess

"I laughed the first time I heard this because the piano just hits you out of nowhere. I can appreciate what he was going for with this tribute of sorts to 70s pop and I don't hate it, but I do think it's going to stand out like a sore thumb on the album." [3]

Right on the money.

lmao I'm gonna fucking love this album

"'Permanating' represents a departure from the rest of the album and the more melancholic material I'm known for in that it's probably the most joyous piece of pure pop I've ever recorded. In my mind this is what ABBA and Electric Light Orchestra would sound like as produced by Daft Punk! While I expect it to create healthy debate amongst my listeners, it's one of the songs I'm most proud of on the new record because it's such a different approach for me, and I thrive from changing my sound and trying new things."

Absolutely love his explanation.

yeah it's nice to see somebody still passionate about exploring new genres and understanding them. personally i'm not a fan of this dude's music but i totally get where he's coming from

I do like this song and now that I'm slowly digesting the new style, I'm curious to see how the new album will sound.

He said himself the album will mostly be going in the direction of Pariah, Asylum and Song Of I. This is just a fun little diversion of sorts.

This is gonna be ghastly

lol these YouTube dislikes

I hated the song at first, but now I kinda like it in a cheesy way.

I'm not familiar with Steven Wilson, although I know he's much adored around these parts, but I really, really liked this.

not gonna lie, I fucking loved this

god this dude has one of the most boring voices in music

^ I like his voice, but it has never been the centerpiece of the song for me, which it seems like is his goal with this album.

Did NOT expect this, but I'm enjoying it

nah this is awful

sounds like new Linkin Park

Onkel Mopper2 days ago
yup, i'me sure.. he had sex

Bwahahahahaha

Yes, this has to be the best comment so far

His evolution to being a wanker is complete.

This is actually pretty fun, I'm surprised to see Steven being this bold.

His solo work has always frustrated me because he'd have these brilliant songs that were just ruined with meandering, formless noodling. I'll have to check the rest of the singles as I'm wondering if this is the album that'll turn that around for me.

This new album is going to convert people I think

It's probably a giant masterplan he plotted out to make the masses who listen to pop music discover his prog stuff and use that as a gateway drug to other prog so that they'll completely turn into pseudo-nostalgic prog rock elitists, resulting in the revival of vinyl as the preferred way of listening to music. His fear of a blank planet must have reached a bizarre extent.

This guy used to be one of my heroes but I feel like he's become another Buckethead. When Porcupine Tree was a thing, every release had so much weight to it. But with all the Blackfield and solo stuff, I feel like all his post-PT output has kind of congealed into a mostly forgettable pool of safe, directionless, oversaturated prog-rock. There's been good moments here and there, but there's too much of it and it does too little. He's been coasting for a long time.

This new album is going to convert people I think

To go back to porcupine tree I guess..

MIKAELLLLLLLLLLLLLL, STEVEN NEEDS YOU, HE'S GOING TO FUCKED UP HIS OWN CAREER BY TAKING THE PHIL COLLIN'S ROAD.

haha holy shit man you're right because no one listens to porcupine tree anymore xD

seriously tho Phil Collins is a bit of a stretch

Phill Collins is great.

Sounds like a slightly less good/interesting version of Silverchair's Young Modern (really underrated album), see "If You Keep Losing Sleep". But it's still pretty good. Wouldn't mind if he made some more in this vein

I get he is trying to branch out. Doing the same stuff over and over is very boring for artists.
But damn, this is SO weird.

Not sure i'm ready for peppy Steven Wilson. But hey, it's not a bad song. Just a really strange source for it.

Steven Wilson going full on pop. Not sure if I like it. "Pariah" however was really nice so I'll reserve judgement until having listened to To the Bone in full.

dude's a fruitbooty

I have a feeling I'll enjoy this more live

he always delivers in a live setting

hikingmetalpunk: "dude's a fruitbooty"

nazi punks fuck off

haaaate, die, die, die.

oh boi this song is great
reminds me of the last kishi bashi album :3

pretty radical, ed

pretty forgettable song. not very bad, but not very good either. i like the fact that sw is exploring new directions. he's done the prog-rock-metal thing as best as he could i guess, so what else is there to do? as long as he's having fun the results will be enjoyable i think

stop making music.

listening to the asylum song it's clear that sw is also exploring new (higher) regions of his voice.

definitely more frequently than in the past but he actually hasn't explored any new facets of his voice that he hasn't already so far

Steven's definitely got range and it'll be interesting to hear him use his upper register more

"I thrive from changing my sound and trying new things." Why does that never mean going brutal death metal for anyone?

cause death metal sucks, probably

You know we've come full circle when the nerdiest retro-progger decides to pull a Phil Collins.

implying that any person is ever smarter than another one because of musical tastes?

Despite the negative press covfefe

progfefe

the jazz influences that were evident on GFD and TRTRTS are definitely gone it seems. more pop. i wonder if sw considered this a track for blackfield, which is usually his more poppy side

maybe aviv said it sucked ;-)

"implying that any person is ever smarter than another one because of musical tastes?"

that's exactly what the strawman prog elitist implies, yeah

Liked the previous singles, I like this one too. His voice fits this stuff well. I'm looking forward to the album

This is one of the more tolerable songs I heard from him in quite some time.

Doesn't mean I like it, though. Not gonna listen to the album.

wish he'd just admit he is changing his sound in the hope of getting more money. can see a ton of coffee shop hipster pop music fans buying this up

pretty boring tbh

sounds like coldplay...shut it down after the first chorus

not good