Progressive rock legend Steven Wilson has just released his most ambitious solo album yet, The Future Bites.
The record puts our obsessions with the digital age of social media under the microscope and blends his signature sounds with an electronic twist to immerse the listener in its self reflective concept.
We sat down with Steven Wilson for the Everblack Podcast to talk about the musical direction of The Future Bites and it’s confrontational look at digital addictions, his thoughts on pop music and rocks place in the mainstream world, the video for the single ‘SELF’ and it’s terrifying predictions. We also discussed how he managed to get Elton John for ‘PERSONAL SHOPPER’, the fake merchandise on the Future Bites website, that one off special edition box set he sold for charity and more!
Stream interview here :
THE FUTURE BITES explores ways that the human brain has evolved in the internet era. Where 2017’s Top 3 album TO THE BONE confronted the (then) emerging global issues of post truth and fake news, THE FUTURE BITES places the listener bang in the middle of a world of 21st century addictions. It’s a place where on-going, very public experiments with nascent technology on our lives take place constantly; where clicks and Tiks have become more important that human interaction. THE FUTURE BITES is less a bleak vision of an approaching dystopia and more a curious and playful reading of a world made all the more strange and separated by the events of 2020.
Watch the lyric video for ‘Man Of The People‘ here:
Musically, THE FUTURE BITES positively gleams. Across the album, there’s tracks that deal in gorgeous electronics warped by human intervention (KING GHOST) and soaring acoustics that hit the stratosphere (12 THINGS I FORGOT); a ten minute treatise on the joys of oniomania laid out by Elton John over a Moroder-esque whirlwind (PERSONAL SHOPPER) and a relentless bass-driven Motorik groove that dives right into the murk of clickbait and online radicalisation (FOLLOWER). The album’s new recording, COUNT OF UNEASE, is a beautifully plaintive close to the album that floats out on a mix of piano and ambient sound. Together, the nine tracks form Steven’s most consistently brilliant work to date. THE FUTURE BITES was recorded in London and co-produced by David Kosten (Bat For Lashes, Everything Everything) and Steven Wilson.
Watch the Video for ‘Personal Shopper‘ here
THE FUTURE BITES website cracks a door open onto a wonderful world of purchase power, a place where everything is marketable and nothing is too random or too moronic to be considered valuable. Inspired by notable 21st century artefacts like the Virgil Abloh ceramic block or Vitality Air’s canned Canadian oxygen, THE FUTURE BITES website is a fully imagined consumer universe (built in collaboration with Baby and Crystal Spotlight) designed to be accessible and addictive to anyone from the casual fan to the hardcore collector. The site features regular drops of limited edition merchandise – this could be anything from a slogan shirt to a branded hole punch.
A unique, super deluxe edition of THE FUTURE BITES went on sale in October for £10,000., and sold out instantly. All profits from the sale of ULTRA DELUXE MUSIC PRODUCT ON OBSOLETE MEDIA were donated to Music Venue Trust.
Watch the video for ‘SELF’ Here:
‘The Future Bites’ is OUT NOW. Buy it here: https://StevenWilson.lnk.to/TheFutureBitesSo
