Maybe a part of it is because I’m reading his memoir Limited Edition Of One at the same time. Maybe I’ve just put asides expectations and refused to engaged in speculation based on marketing, promotion, and that heavily burdened world “prog”. Maybe it’s just this time, this state of being that is so fraying that hearing The Overview, the latest album from Steven Wilson gives me what I need: a floating, exploratory record that both soothes and reflects in its electronic excursions some of that static that sits within. or maybe I’m just old, and I dig what he’s puttin’ out, you know?

Divided into two side-long tracks, The Overview conceptually speaks about the Overview effect, where there is a cognitive shift in perspective, often transcendent, experienced by astronauts seeing a view of the planet from outer space. That doesn’t mean “Objects Outlive Us” the first 23-minute track is about an astronaut floating in space. Wilson uses the overall concept to lyrically explore themes of our perception of identity framed against larger, vaster concepts that will indeed outlive us. He also uses it musically to explore all the interesting avenues that have engaged him throughout his life, especially the more ambient and experimental influences. There are bursts of noise that pulse in and out of more orchestrated, acoustic song structures, ambient pads and synths that swell and fall in lunar tides.

And yeah, there’s also Wilson doing his thing, the same thing he did on The Harmony Codex and The Future Bites, folding pop, jazz, and just a little bit of prog into his song structures. What really works for me, especially on “Objects Outlive Us” is how he’s able to marry that into a larger construct, carrying musical themes across the track so you can have things like Beatles-esque vocal hooks and narrative lyrics by XTC’s Andy partridge on the “Meanwhile” section of the song but have it feel natural in the context of the more Pink Floydian parts of “The Cicerones/Ark” section (the album digitally includes the “disconnected” version where the track is broken up into components) or the killer guitar solo from Randy McStine on “Cosmic Sons of Toil”. The more I listen to the track the more my ear is drawn to different things each time (that luscious bass tone in “meanwhile”) and the more I come away finding myself in a different mental space than I was when I started playing it. Maybe not transcendent, but it’s takes me on a journey.

Despite perhaps being more accessible, I think the 18-minute title tracks falters just a bit, though I still enjoy the exuberance of it. The opening five minutes is very ambient, indebted to bands like Neu!, Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream in the layering of pads and programming, only slowing bringing in more acoustic touches like piano to provide the melodic theme. The biggest complaint I’ve seen from people revolves around Wilson’s wife, who provides spoken word, rolling off sizes of the celestial bodies in the night sky. I have no problem folding her voice in as another instrument that lends color to the piece – if anything I enjoy the hypnotic quality.

Would folks be happier if “The Overview” started with the very Bowie-inspired “A Beautiful Infinity/Borrowed Atoms/A Beautiful Infinity II” section? It’s certainly more accessible and full of those little harmonic quirks folks love about Wilson, and despite only being five and a half minutes acts as a mini suite unto itself. Then it’s back to the more experimental side “Infinity Measured in Moments” with Wilson wife Rotem returning for more narration, only this time Wilson steps in as well, and the music pushes into an electronica/dance vibe before spilling into more traditional SW waters. Adam Holzman steps in with a nice keyboard solo but it’s the more electronic and noise elements Wilson puts in that drawers me deeper into the song.

Ending with “Permanence” featuring Theo Travis who I’ve been on record as adoring for his contributions to The Tangent, I readily admit The Overview is more of a grower than a show-er, and repeated listens not only bring out new facets, but deepen those more accessible moments. Ultimately (and for the best) Steven Wilson has no interest in revisiting his past works, like any artist asks us to follow him as he chases his muse. I don’t need to love everything the man does (sorry, To The Bone), but there’s always a fascination to be found. My take? For me The Overhead is easily his best output since Hand. Cannot. Erase, and is set apart from the rest of his discography to have me revisiting when I want this specific experience, which his other albums don’t provide.