Artist: Steven Wilson | Album: Requiem for a Village | Genre: Progressive rock | Year: 2026
From: Hertfordshire, UK | Label: Fiction
Steven Wilson’s new solo record, Requiem for a Village, is much more grounded and focused in scope than last year’s The Overview. Whereas that record was about the vastness of life and the Earth, this focuses on a small English village where the people are insular and follow their own old practices. Wilson drew heavy inspiration from a 1975 movie of the same name (which I have not seen), as well as other folk horror works, like Wicker Man (both versions of which I have seen).
He also made a concerted effort to work outside the usual 12-note scales of Western music. Deliberately-imperfect tunings, finicky analog synths, and instruments Wilson has limited experience with–such as violin and oboe–are all deployed to create a sonic setting that sounds similar to our world but kind of off, in an uneasy and unsettling way.
After the eerie, ethereal intro of “Swirl in a Larks Eye”, featuring a spoken word passage written by Andy Partridge of XTC and performed by actor David Tennant, the album’s title track is its first proper song. It’s an energetic piece with a jagged, irregular rhythm and some of the most metallic riffing Wilson has done in his solo career. The first verse doesn’t begin until nearly halfway through, but it’s some of the most Porcupine Tree-ish sounding work he’s done on his own. I love the weird synth tones, and the microtonality adds to the sense of unease.
“The Same River Twice” opens with some fittingly watery, wavering de-tuned piano and gentle vocals. The tempo remains slow, and massive walls of synth deliberately wash over the listener, a lovely counterbalance to the previous composition.
Some of that same weird piano can be heard in “Now Departing”, but there’s a somewhat hopeful, upward momentum. This song’s warmer moments remind me of “Deform to Form a Star”, a song off Wilson’s Grace for Drowning. The continued inclusion of weird, squealing synth embellishments evokes the eerie, otherworldly atmosphere of this album’s village. There’s a guitar solo in the song’s second half where Wilson embraces odd tuning a bit too enthusiastically (to phrase it kindly), but the song is overall fantastic, with an exciting arc and plenty of unpredictable twists.
“Hireath” is a nice breather, with piano and folky guitar setting an idyllic scene for its first half and warm synths supporting the second.
“On Chapel Slope”, in contrast, has a drier, dustier feel to it, nearly evoking the American Southwest. Guitars are twangy, and an ominous drone hangs over this song. “Murmuration” continues with this uneasy feeling. Pulsing, krautrocky synths eventually give way to more spoken word and disquieting acoustic guitar. Wilson’s vocal performance is strong here, and I love the frequent alternations between rich and spare moments. The closing two minutes of this feature some of Wilson’s best integrations of folk and avant-garde music. I don’t like Storm Corrosion, his collaboration with Mikael Åkerfeldt, but this seems like a good version of that.
Another interlude, “Cursus Fingerprint”, full of narration and anxious avant-garde music, follows, and that leads into the relatively sunny opening of “A Basket of Bees”. (That title only makes me think of the infamous Nic Cage “Not the bees!” scene from the Wicker Man remake. And considering Wilson said he drew inspiration from the original Wicker Man, maybe this was intentional.) I love the jumpy, fanciful, and pagan feel of this song; and its transition into a piece of dark, kraut-y avant-prog in its second half is both surprising and naturalistic.
“Great Green Map” revisits some of the gentle piano ideas from earlier in the album beneath more of David Tennant’s narration. This is not the best or most interesting song on the album. It’s not bad, but the main musical idea grows tiresome after a while, and not enough happens to warrant this cut’s five-minute length.
Segueing directly out of the preceding song, “Wheel” is immediately more engaging. The guitar line is urgent, and the non-standard notes being played give the sense of some altered reality. The eclectic nature of the album is distilled well in this song. It’s under four minutes, but a large amount of musical ground is covered, and it all feels purposefully connected. Requiem for a Village ends on a bit of looping, throbbing, occult music and narration, which ties things up nicely.
At least that’s where the main album ends. Wilson also released a deluxe edition of this record which features seven more songs. I’ll cover these in less depth than the album proper, but they should still be discussed.
“Low Requiem” is an electronic reinterpretation of some of the album’s musical themes, and the demo version of the title track is fine. It’s not meaningfully different from the released version.
“Born But Never Asked” feels like a draft of a song. The electronic backing comes off as unfinished, but there’s a fun funkiness to it, nonetheless. “Steeple Song” just isn’t for me. It’s Wilson warbling over some de-tuned piano. Thankfully it’s short.
An alternate version of “On Chapel Hill” featuring folk singer Katherine Priddy instead of Wilson on vocals isn’t meaningfully different from the album version. Yes, her voice is obviously different from his, but it doesn’t really do much to affect the broader song. It’s also a full minute longer, and that’s mostly in an unnecessary, extended droning outro.
“Valentinesque” feels like Steven Wilson trying to be Angine de Poitrine. It’s pretty fun.
The final track on the bonus disc is the 17-minute “Requiem for a Village (The Original Soundtrack)”. Wilson described this as musique concrète, and I guess it technically is, insofar as it uses pre-recorded sounds meaningfully rearranged, but my inclination would be to describe this (in my uneducated, non-experimental-electronic-music-listening parlance) as primarily ambient music. There are some kosmische moments, as well as sound effects, and even a bit of folk. It’s not for me, but I could definitely see people enjoying this.
Requiem for a Village is a very strong outing from Steven Wilson. The album is daring and shows his willingness to take risks. Those risks mostly paid off here, as much of the music here is among the most urgent and exciting of his solo career.
Score (for the 12 songs of the main album): 85/100
