Review: Steven Wilson – Requiem For A Village
Steven Wilson – ‘Requiem For A Village’: Martien Koolen reviews the new concept album and finds three outstanding tracks
Steven Wilson – Requiem For A Village
Format: CD / Blu-ray / 2LP / Limited Edition 3-Disc Earbook
Label: Fiction Records
Release date: November 6, 2026
Review by Martien Koolen
Porcupine Tree has always been one of my favourite prog rock bands, as from their 4th studio album called ‘Signify’ (1996), they got better with every following album; resulting in prog rock iconic albums like ‘In Absentia’ (2002) and ‘Fear Of A Blank Planet’ (2007).
Therefore, I was flabbergasted and heartbroken when Wilson put the Porcies on hold, but Wilson’s solo career is of course also very intriguing and interesting, as some of his solo albums like ‘Hand. Cannot. Erase.’ (2015), ‘To The Bone’ (2017) and the mind-blowing ‘The Overview’ (2025) showcase Wilson’s musical and compositional brilliance.
However, other Wilson solo releases, like the inconstant ‘The Harmony Codex’ (2023) or the utterly boring ‘The Future Bites’ (2021) do absolutely NOT belong to my Wilson favs indeed.
So now, Steven Wilson presents his new album called ‘Requiem For A Village’ and after a couple of very intensive spins I sadly must conclude that it is not as good as the Overview by far, – by the way feel free to disagree with me here – as that album was truly breathtaking and emotionally extraordinarily complex and wonderful.
Wilson’s new album with the very gripping and intriguing title ‘Requiem For A Village’ comprises twelve songs of which six are “rather” short; meaning under the four-minute mark, and it is a concept album; with lots of variety in sounds, atmospheres and out of tune instruments.
‘Requiem For A Village’ opens with the mysterious, dreamy Swirl In A Lark’s Eye, featuring church bells, lots of orchestration and extensive narrative passages by the Scottish actor David Tennant. Next up is the title track, the first longer song, and this one opens with a cappela falsetto vocals by Wilson, before it evolves into an energetic complex prog rock song with heavy metallic riffing, – hello Porcupine Tree – amazing tempo changes and jagged rhythms galore.
The Same River Twice is one the four, rather dull interlude songs, again feel free to disagree with me, featuring de-tuned piano passages, gentle vocals, and lots of synthesizer walls.
Now Departing, the second longer track, is also the second highlight as this song is packed with unpredictable twists and turns, but it is the brilliant guitar solo in the second half of the song which makes Now Departing so special and impressive indeed.
Next up is the instrumental, mediocre track called Hiraeth (which is the Welsh word for homesickness…) and this song is “dominated” by folk guitar and piano, while the obvious better slow-paced On Chapel Slope is filled with twangy guitars.
Murmuration (a flock of birds mostly starlings) is the third longer song and it is filled with too many pulsing synthesizers, lots of spoken words and acoustic guitars, while the end even sounds like a mix of avant-garde music and folk music.
The last excellent song on this inconstant album is called Wheel, featuring a very urgent guitar line, before the album ends with another interlude song called The Old God Is Buried.
Conclusion: the great variety in tracks on ‘Requiem For A Village’ is not really appealing to me, again, please feel free to disagree, while I also do not like the abundance of acoustic guitars and the folk-like sounds, but that is just my humble opinion indeed.
However, just three brilliant tracks, the title song, Now Departing and Wheel are way not enough to make a milestone Steven Wilson album indeed, so I think I will put ‘Hand Cannot Erase’ or ‘The Overview’ on my turntable again to experience how brilliant some of Wilson’s solo albums really are!
Tracks:
01. Swirl in a Lark’s Eye
02. Requiem for a Village
03. The Same River Twice
04. Now Departing
05. Hiraeth
06. On Chapel Slope
07. Murmuration
08. Cursus Fingerprint
09. A Basket of Bees
10. Great Green Map
11. Wheel
12. The Old God is Buried
Website: https://stevenwilsonhq.com/
Read also:
Want to discover more from Steven Wilson and related artists? Click on the titles below to read earlier articles on Bluestown Music.
Porcupine Tree – Closure/Continuation
A review of the progressive rock band’s comeback album, featuring Steven Wilson on vocals and guitar.
Riverside – ID.Entity
The Polish progressive rock band combines atmospheric passages, powerful guitar work and electronic influences.
Pure Reason Revolution – Terrifying Angels
A progressive rock album combining layered vocals, electronics and heavier guitar-driven passages.