| Blackfield IV | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 26 August 2013 | |||
| Recorded | January 2012–July 2012 | |||
| Genre | Art rock, [1] pop rock [2] | |||
| Length | 31:22 | |||
| Label | Kscope | |||
| Producer | Aviv Geffen | |||
| Blackfield chronology | ||||
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Blackfield IV is the fourth studio album by Blackfield, the musical collaboration by Aviv Geffen and Steven Wilson. Similar to their third album, Welcome to My DNA , Geffen has taken over more active duties on the album while Wilson focuses on his solo career. The album was released on 26 August 2013.
Over the course of 2010 and early 2011, the two creative directors of Blackfield were split over two musical projects; Steven Wilson wrote and recorded his second solo studio album, Grace for Drowning , and as a result, Aviv Geffen would take more creative control over Blackfield's third studio album, Welcome to My DNA . After both albums' release and promotion, in December 2011, Wilson stated that his various music projects, Blackfield included, would be put on hold, while he focused further on his solo career. [3] Contrary to this announcement, less than a month later in January 2012, Geffen announced his intentions to release a fourth Blackfield album by as soon as May 2012. [4] [5] This prompted Wilson to announce that his role would continue to lessen, with Wilson acting only as a contributor and mixer. Wilson said of the band's future:
...just to clarify news elsewhere of a new Blackfield album coming this year – please note that this time my involvement will be as a contributor rather than a member. I will still be mixing the album, and maybe sing on a couple of Aviv’s songs (there will be other guest singers I understand), but with my complete blessing Blackfield is now under his sole curatorship, a process which really began with Welcome to My DNA" [4] [6]
Wilson later admitted that it was his own idea for Geffen to take over the project, because Wilson wanted to concentrate on his solo career in 2012 and 2013, while Geffen wanted to do another Blackfield album right away in 2012, and Wilson felt guilty about holding him back. [7]
Work on the album started shortly after Geffen's initial announcement. On 29 and 30 January, both Geffen and Wilson began work on vocal and guitar parts in the studio. [8] [9] The two were accompanied by one of the guest vocalists that Wilson had alluded to before, which was revealed to be Vincent Cavanagh of the band Anathema, who recorded vocals for a track, [10] "XRay". [11]
Due to Wilson focusing on the recording of his third solo album, The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) , Wilson would not write any of the songs for the album. He only contributed lead vocals to one song, "Jupiter", [11] though he did also contribute "a bunch of guitar parts" and "helped him arrange some of the backing vocals". [7] Specifically, Wilson provided backing vocals and guitar to the track "Pills", [12] and backing vocals for "Sense of Insanity". [13] Despite his lessened role, he still said that he was "protective of the Blackfield legacy", and that the next album would "still sound like a quintessential Blackfield album." [7] Wilson later reiterated his role on the album:
I won’t say producing [the fourth album], I am only helping [Geffen], a bit of singing, guitar, mixing whatever it takes but I am not going to tour, it’ll be too much, I’ll kill myself, would just run myself to the ground. I won’t tour Blackfield anymore but I will do anything to keep the name going...I just don’t think that writing the kind of style that Blackfield make is where I am at right now. [14]
Despite Wilson's focus on his solo career, Geffen pressed forward with the album, writing around thirty tracks for the album before whittling it down to the strongest eleven tracks for the final release. [12] On 14 June 2012 Geffen announced he was in the final mixing stages of the album with Wilson. [15] By November 2012, Geffen stated that he roughly aimed for an April 2013 release time frame. [16] Wilson confirmed that he sang and played guitar on several tracks, but "much less than before", that Geffen was able to get "a bunch of great singers to contribute to the record, some of whom are quite well known", and that the album would be the first that Geffen would consent to be mixed for surround sound. [17] In June 2013, the other guest appearances were announced to including Brett Anderson of Suede, Jonathan Donahue of Mercury Rev and the aforementioned appearance of Vincent Cavanagh of Anathema. [18]
While Geffen stated that the Welcome to My DNA title of their prior album was meant to symbolize his taking over the band as Wilson focused on his solo career, Geffen conversely stated that Blackfield IV's title was meant to remind the fanbase that they were still the same band, despite Wilson's lessened role. [12]
The album's sound came from a variety of different areas. Geffen strove to keep the music a mixture of metal, pop, and symphonic pop, being influenced by bands such as Radiohead or Blonde Redhead, that cannot be pigeon-holed into one specific genre. [12] Specific tracks possessed individual influences as well; "Jupiter" was influenced by 1970s classic rock, "After the Rain"'s electronic edge was influenced by dub step, and "Firefly" was influenced by post-rock and indie rock, while "Pills" was an attempt to create a song that sounded like it was off of the original Blackfield album. [12]
On 25 February 2013 Wilson released his third solo album, The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) . Some copies contained a compilation disc of music done by artists under record label Kscope; one track being Blackfield's "Pills", premiering half a year prior to the release of Blackfield IV. [19] [20] On 9 June 2013 it was announced that the fourth album would officially be titled Blackfield IV, and its release date would be 26 August 2013. [21] The band premiered a sand art-based music video for the track "Jupiter" on 25 July 2013. [22] The track "Pills" was made available for free download as well. [23]
Reception for the album has been mixed, with critics divided over Wilson's smaller role on the album. About.com music journalist Chad Bowar gave the album a 4 out of 5 star rating, praising it for combining "beautiful acoustic passages, luscious melodies and straightforward rock" and especially noting the orchestration and guest appearance of Vincent Cavanagh as standout features. [24] Conversely, Bryce Ezel of PopMatters was more critical of the album, awarding it only a 5 of 10, stating that while some of the songs were good, the magic from the first two albums, Blackfield and Blackfield II , was lost due to the lack of collaboration between Geffen and Wilson on the album. "Pills", "Jupiter", and "Sense of Insanity", all tracks Wilson contributed to, were noted as standouts because "IV demonstrates that Blackfield is at its finest when it is being what it initially set out to be—not the band it now has to become because the circumstances require it to be so." [13]
All tracks are written by Aviv Geffen [25] .
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Pills" | 3:35 |
| 2. | "Springtime" | 2:24 |
| 3. | "X-Ray" (featuring Vincent Cavanagh) | 2:36 |
| 4. | "Sense of Insanity" | 3:24 |
| 5. | "Firefly" (featuring Brett Anderson) | 2:46 |
| 6. | "The Only Fool Is Me" (featuring Jonathan Donahue) | 1:54 |
| 7. | "Jupiter" | 3:48 |
| 8. | "Kissed by the Devil" | 3:03 |
| 9. | "Lost Souls" | 2:57 |
| 10. | "Faking" | 3:33 |
| 11. | "After the Rain" | 1:26 |
| Charts (2013) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Polish Albums (ZPAV) [26] | 8 |
Porcupine Tree are an English rock band formed by musician Steven Wilson in 1987. During an initial career spanning more than twenty years, they earned critical acclaim from critics and fellow musicians, developed a cult following, and became an influence for new artists. The group carved out a career at a certain distance away from mainstream music, being described by publications such as Classic Rock and PopMatters as "the most important band you’d never heard of".
Steven John Wilson is an English musician. He is the founder, guitarist, lead vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Porcupine Tree, as well as being a member of several other bands, including Blackfield, Storm Corrosion and No-Man. He is also a solo artist, having released 6 solo albums since his solo debut Insurgentes in 2008. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Wilson has made music prolifically and earned critical acclaim. His honours include six nominations for Grammy Awards: twice with Porcupine Tree, once with his collaborative band Storm Corrosion and thrice as a solo artist. In 2017 The Daily Telegraph described him as "a resolutely independent artist" and "probably the most successful British artist you've never heard of".
Aviv Geffen is an Israeli rock musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, keyboardist, and guitarist and the son of writer and poet Yehonatan Geffen and Nurit Makover, brother of actress Shira Geffen, and an alumnus of Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music. In addition to his solo career, Geffen is a founding member of the band Blackfield, he was also the global music director for WeWork.
Deadwing is the eighth studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, released in Japan on 24 March 2005, in Europe on 28 March, and in the US on 26 April. It quickly became the band's best selling album, although it was later surpassed by Fear of a Blank Planet. The album is based on a screenplay written by Steven Wilson and Mike Bennion, and is a ghost story. Wilson has stated that the songs "Deadwing", "Lazarus", "Arriving Somewhere but Not Here", "Open Car", and "Mellotron Scratch" were originally intended for the film soundtrack, but when the project failed to find funding they were instead recorded for the next Porcupine Tree album. The album versions of "Lazarus" and "Open Car" essentially remain Wilson solo tracks onto which Gavin Harrison overdubbed drums.
In Absentia is the seventh studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released on 24 September 2002. The album marked several changes for the band, with it being the first with new drummer Gavin Harrison and the first to move into a more progressive metal direction, contrary to past albums' psychedelic and alternative rock sounds. Additionally, it was their first release on a major record label, Lava Records. It was very well received critically and commercially, with it often being considered the band's crowning achievement, and selling over triple what any of the band's prior albums had in the past.
Lightbulb Sun is the sixth studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released in May 2000, and later reissued in 2008 on CD, DVD-A surround sound, and vinyl.
Monica Sex is an Israeli alternative rock band.
Blackfield is the debut album by the art rock band Blackfield, released on the Snapper Music/Helicon labels in February 2004. The album was re-released in August of the same year with an additional three-track bonus disc, followed by a later pressing that contains the album and the three bonus tracks all on one CD.
Blackfield is a collaborative music project by the English musician and founder of Porcupine Tree, Steven Wilson, and Israeli rock singer Aviv Geffen. Together, six albums have been released under the moniker. The first two records, Blackfield and Blackfield II, saw Geffen and Wilson working together as equal partners, while the third and fourth, Welcome to my DNA and Blackfield IV, saw Geffen take on a leading role, writing all but one track across both albums and providing a significantly increased share of lead vocals. Despite initially announcing his intention to leave the project in 2014, Wilson instead worked again as an equal partner on a fifth album, Blackfield V, which was released on 10 February 2017. A sixth record, For the Music, was released on 4 December 2020, with Geffen again taking a leading role.
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Lasse Hoile is a Danish artist, photographer and filmmaker. He has collaborated with musician Steven Wilson and his projects Porcupine Tree and Blackfield. He has also designed live visuals for US progressive metal band Dream Theater. In the mid-1990s he was the vocalist for Danish death metal band Panzerchrist.
Fear of a Blank Planet is the ninth studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree and their best selling before 2009's The Incident. It was released on 16 April 2007 in the UK and the rest of Europe by Roadrunner, 24 April 2007 in the United States by Atlantic, 25 April 2007 in Japan by WHD, and 1 May 2007 in Canada by WEA. Steven Wilson has mentioned that the album's title is a direct reference to the 1990 Public Enemy album Fear of a Black Planet; while the former tackled race issues, the latter is about the fear of losing the current generation of youth to various common threats to their mental and social wellbeing, including broken homes, excessive "screen time", and narcotic overuse to the point of mental and spiritual "blankness".
Insurgentes is the debut full-length solo album released by British musician and record producer Steven Wilson, known for being the founder and frontman of progressive rock band Porcupine Tree. The album was recorded all over the world in studios from Mexico City to Japan and Israel, between January and August 2008, and released in November 2008 as a special deluxe multi disc mail order version, with retail release to follow in February 2009. According to Wilson himself, the album contained "the most experimental song-based music [he had] made." The album is named after the Avenida de los Insurgentes, the longest avenue in Mexico City near which part of it was recorded.
Kscope is an independent record label that is part of Snapper Music, and a sister-label of Peaceville. It is dedicated to artists in the progressive rock genre. The label has released albums by Steven Wilson and his projects Porcupine Tree, No-Man and Blackfield. In 2008 it branched out and has since signed the post-progressive artists Anathema, Lunatic Soul and Ulver, and progressive rock stalwart Ian Anderson to their roster. In 2013, the Steven Wilson release The Raven That Refused to Sing received the Album of the Year award at the Progressive Music Awards.
Aviv Geffen is the debut, English-language studio album by Israeli post-punk singer-songwriter Aviv Geffen, released on 19 October 2009 in the UK. Apart from one track Geffen produced himself, the album was produced by David Andrew Sitek, Trevor Horn and Ken Nelson (Coldplay).
Welcome to My DNA is the third studio album by Blackfield, a musical collaboration between Steven Wilson and Aviv Geffen. It was released in Europe on 28 March 2011, and released in the US on 19 April 2011, as a digi-book CD and heavyweight vinyl limited to 2000 individually numbered copies.
Grace for Drowning is the second solo studio album by Steven Wilson, producer, songwriter, and frontman of Porcupine Tree. It was released by Kscope on 26 September 2011 as a double album. The album received a nomination at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Surround Sound Album.
The Raven That Refused to Sing is the third solo album by British musician Steven Wilson, released by Kscope Music Records on 25 February 2013. Each track on the album is based on a story of the supernatural. Alan Parsons, who had previously been involved in the creation of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon was responsible for engineering the album.
Blackfield V is the fifth studio album by art rock band Blackfield. Recorded over a year and a half period across 2015 and 2016, the album, initially intended for release on 18 November 2016, was later delayed to 10 February 2017. The album, the fifth between the musical partnership between Steven Wilson and Aviv Geffen, is the third released as an even collaboration between the two; while Blackfield and Blackfield II were even collaborations, Welcome to My DNA and Blackfield IV saw increased writing and musicianship from Geffen while Wilson focused on his solo albums Grace for Drowning and The Raven that Refused to Sing.
Closure/Continuation is the eleventh studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree. The album is their first since 2009's The Incident. Despite public uncertainty of the band's future after frontman Steven Wilson's focus on a solo career in 2010, the album was recorded intermittently in complete secrecy among Wilson, Gavin Harrison, and Richard Barbieri across the course of the following decade, without long-time bassist Colin Edwin. With the COVID-19 pandemic putting members' separate plans on hold, the band found time to completely finish the album in September 2021. Towards the end of the year, the band's reformation was publicly announced, alongside the album's release date of 24 June 2022. Four singles were released ahead of the album—"Harridan", "Of the New Day", "Herd Culling", and "Rats Return".
