Porcupine Tree: «Rock has not been able to reinvent itself. The Maneskins? They are terrible, a poor copy of the past “

Today’s music TikTok, social content. How do you make music in 15 seconds? We can’t. In fact the songs of the Porcupine Tree, the cult British rock band back with the new album Closure / Continuation after more than 12 years of hiatus, they easily last 8 or 9 minutes each. An anachronistic approach, if we look at the trends, strong for a more unique and rare position in the musical world: far from the mainstream, the group led by musician, producer and songwriter Steven Wilson has enjoyed a very affectionate following since the 90s and, albeit little known to the general public, it fills large clubs and palaces (they will be in Milan, at the Assago Forum, on 24 October).

With this return, much awaited by fans, Porcupine Tree they also entered the charts: in Italy Closure / Continuation the fourth best-selling album of the week (after the podium all rap Lazza, Shiva and Rkomi), as well as the first among the vinyls, in England they are in the top five for the first time in their career, second only to Harry Styles.

Our ideal situation comes to mind – reflects Wilson, 54 years old -. You don’t hear us on the radio or on TV, we don’t compromise, yet we still have a large audience. When people find out about us, they become almost evangelical to us and I think it’s partly because they understand that marketing has nothing to do with it. Sure, our big fanbase in relative terms, we’re not the Foo Fighters or Metallica, but considering we’ve spent our careers doing exactly what the hell we wanted, I choose that over having 100,000 people in front of us. Influenced by the progressive rock of the 70s and passed through the years through continuous experimentation, Porcupine Tree are back without haste: There had to be a reason to make a record, something that sounded like an evolution, to be released only now, in 2022 explains Wilson, at the head of the trio completed by keyboardist Richard Barbieri and drummer Gavin Harrison (formerly with King Crimson).

Cos Closure / Continuation collects the meticulous experiments on sound that took place over the last 10 years, with texts that also look to the present: We have gone through very disturbing times. There was the Trump administration, the Brexit fiasco and now Putin. We don’t want the clich of the Covid or Trump inspired record, but it’s hard not to talk about these things because they are part of the world we live in.

And how is rock today, in their opinion? There are new bands, but rock has failed to reinvent itself for too long, Wilson argues. now virtually invisible in the mainstream, where urban is completely dominant, and has become a cult genre, as happened to jazz in the second half of the twentieth century. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, even if I were a kid I’d be more interested in Billie Eilish or Taylor Swift than in the new Iron Maiden or Foo Fighters record. But have I discovered so many new rock bands that are valid in the last 20 years? The answer is no.

Wilson doesn’t save the Mneskins either: They are terrible. Sure fantastic for Italy and always positive when a band introduces the guys to guitars and drums, I just wish they were a little better. For those who grew up listening to Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd or Black Sabbath, listening to bands like Mneskin or Greta Van Fleet and taking them seriously hard because they are a poor copy of what the others were. Mneskin are much better than Greta who are kind of a boy band version of Zeppelin, but wouldn’t it be nice if someone a little more creative and inspired came along?