Porcupine Tree - Steven Wilson, Richard Barbieri, and Gavin Harrison - has shared “Rats Return”, the latest track from their new album, Closure/Continuation, due via Music For Nations/Megaforce Records on Friday, June 24. An official music video directed by Ricky Allen can be viewed below.
“‘Rats Return’ is about those who claim to have the interests of the people at heart, but when it comes down to it there is only ego and self-interest,” says Porcupine Tree founder Steven Wilson. “I find myself reflecting on what sort of person would actually be so driven as to want to rule over a whole nation, and aren’t these people by definition the very last people that should be allowed to do so? The rats will always save themselves first.”
Closure/Continuation will be available on standard CD, standard black vinyl 2x12” LP, white vinyl 2x12” LP, transparent blue vinyl 2x12” LP, and white cassette. In addition, a limited audiophile deluxe LP will also be available, cut at 45rpm on 3x12” clear vinyl in 12” slipcase box with two bonus tracks; a limited audiophile deluxe CD in 12” slipcase box will include the standard CD, a second disc with three bonus tracks and instrumentals, Blu-ray disc with 5.1/Dolby Atmos and HD audio versions of the album, and an exclusive album art book. Pre-orders are available now, here.
Tracklisting:
"Harridan"
"Of The New Day"
"Rats Return"
"Dignity"
"Herd Culling"
"Walk The Plank"
"Chimera’s Wreck"
Bonus Tracks:
"Population Three" * †
"Never Have" * †
"Love In The Past Tense" †
* Limited Audiophile Deluxe LP
† Limited Audiophile Deluxe CD
“Of The New Day":
“Harridan” lyric video:
One of the most forward-thinking, genre-defying rock bands of any era, Porcupine Tree was founded in 1987 by renowned musician/producer Steven Wilson as an outlet for the experimental recordings he was making outside of his acclaimed post-rock duo, No-Man. With the addition of keyboard player Richard Barbieri and drummer Gavin Harrison, Porcupine Tree soon evolved into a proper band, releasing 10 studio albums between 1992 and 2009. Each new release saw Porcupine Tree exploring new musical ideas, their expansive music shifting from pastoral psychedelic rock and ambient electronic soundscapes to experimental pop and propulsive metal. Later releases like 2007’s Grammy Award-nominated Fear Of A Blank Planet and 2009’s The Incident - the band’s biggest seller thus far, reaching the top 25 in both the US and the UK - saw Porcupine Tree effortlessly melding distinctive genres to create a groundbreaking musical universe all their own.
Recorded quietly and sporadically over the last decade and finished during a period when touring was curtailed in 2020/21, Closure/Continuation marks the most collaborative album of Porcupine Tree’s highly lauded career. From its restless, often troubled lyrics to its gorgeous cyclonic sound, the album stands tall as a stunning and timely return of rock’s most consistently innovative and influential bands, an album of forward-thinking music fed through myriad electronic filters, equal parts squalling noise and soaring, melancholy melody.
