porcupine tree
19:12 Tuesday, 3 January 2023
Porcupine Tree reunited in 2021, released their first record since 2009 named Closure/Continuation in 2022, and went on tour. Unfortunately it seems like that reunion is leaning more toward "closure" than "continuation" at this point. In a New Year's Day statement from Porcupine Tree frontman Steven Wilson, the band's 2023 shows will likely be their last.
"First and foremost a big thank you to everyone that enjoyed the Porcupine Tree Closure / Continuation album / shows, and my book Limited Edition of One during the past year," said Wilson. "Coming in 2023 will be my new album, a 10 track 65 minute musical journey that’s kinda hard to describe, but suffice to say it’s different again, not to mention totally pretentious (in a good way!). It will be released by Virgin Music UK, more news soon.
"Meanwhile the (likely final) Porcupine Tree shows will be a handful of festival appearances over the Summer, check the band’s channels for more info. Lots more exciting stuff (at least to me) happening, but for now I'll leave you with my very best wishes for the year ahead, I hope it will be a wonderful one for you."
Wilson said in previous interview with Under The Radar he wasn't sure how much more Porcupine Tree would tour after their already-announced show, though he noted that another Porcupine Tree record is a possibility. So maybe the band will become strictly a studio-only project?
"I suspect it will be the last time we'll tour," he said. "I think it's quite possible we might make another record. In fact, I was speaking with [keyboardist Richard Barbieri] about it. We were in Germany a couple of weeks ago doing promo in Berlin, and somebody asked me that question.
"I thought, 'Well, you know what? I think there's a way forward.' A track like 'Walk the Plank'—which is one of the last tracks we did—which doesn't have any guitars on it at all, and kind of reflects the fact that I've moved more and more towards electronic music. I wondered about making a Porcupine Tree record where we just focused on keyboards, rather than guitars. It would have to be something different to justify doing it."
