The Future Bites
| Steven Wilson
The Future Bites
The Future Bites (stylised as THE FUTURE BITES™) is the sixth studio album by British musician Steven Wilson. The album was initially set for release on 12 June 2020 through Caroline International, but later was pushed back to 29 January 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected the marketing and production related to the album. It was co-produced by Wilson and David Kosten and recorded in London. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Kerrang!
Mr Wilson has travelled all over the musical map, but appears to be more direct in wanting bigger results this time around. Is it better than what he’s done before as a result? Not always, but it’s the next blockbusting step from an artist who’s always done things on his own sonically strange terms.
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The Guardian
The former Porcupine Tree frontman moves further from his past as he packages up digital-age musings into bite-size pop.
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The Prog Report
I believe it is a clever concept album, whose message is absolutely relevant for our time. While the album imagery may be start and upfront, it conveys the messages in a gently challenging way, with some endearing dry humor.
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Ghost Cult Magazine
It is seemingly designed to alienate anybody who longs for the continuation of old ways yet isn’t that out of place when examining the full scope of Steven Wilson’s eclectic career. It may not compare to the best that he’s released under any name but still has more going for it than one would initially expect.
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Sonic Perspectives
All this in a tidy 42-minute package. Truly, it goes by so quickly that one finds it quite easy to just start the album over again at its conclusion. Let’s be honest: for most of Steven Wilson’s/Porcupine Tree’s longtime fans, this won’t be in their Top 5 releases. But it doesn’t need to be. It’s a damn good album on its own, one which will likely bring in a fair number of new listeners who hopefully will work their way backwards through the catalog.
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Slant Magazine
Steven Wilson’s The Future Bites Paints a Pop-Friendly Dystopia.
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PopMatters
The Future Bites objectively deserves applause for perpetuating Wilson's integrity and creativity, even if it's a markedly—and perhaps intentionally—divisive collection, too.
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Angry Metal Guy
It’s a more cohesive and streamlined album than To the Bone and for this it deserves recognition as Wilson sounds more confident with his contemporary musical voice. There’s pop here to be sure but it doesn’t sound like anyone else and I suppose that’s the point.
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mxdwn Music
Wilson’s The Future Bites should not go unnoticed, as there are several elements that make it worth listening to. However, an unprejudiced listener might find the same inconsistencies noted above in a much shorter time. The album contains significant messages, but it lacks substance and falls short of Wilson’s prog-rock legacy. While it might be an experimental path he has chosen, it might not be the right one.
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Stereoboard
This mixture makes ‘The Future Bites’ a collection that wants to have its cake and eat it too. It’s a nihilist rock statement that also once or twice delves into a nice, merry anthem. Individually every song is endlessly enticing, but prepare for a couple of raised eyebrows in the jumps in between.
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All Music
Given the musical m.o. here, it should come as no surprise that the production on these nine songs is slick, even icy. It contrasts sharply with most of Wilson's songwriting that remains saturated in welcoming, effusive melodies and hooks. On most tracks, guitars and drums are subservient to keyboards and electronic rhythms and soundscapes. As usual, the studio cast is stellar.
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Sputnik Music
Future Bites is a rather controversial album, which I liked a lot. Steve Wilson showed that he can experiment in a completely new genre for him and succeed in it.
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The Wee Review
Steven Wilson has always been a great observer and The Future Bites is right on point, a sharp, witty and sometimes uncomfortable comment on the modern state of consumerism, words as profound as anything Dylan wrote in the sixties. The Future Bites may be one of the albums of the year.
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Belwood Music
Needless to say it’s Steven Wilson’s weakest body of work, and not an album I see myself ever returning to.
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Medium
the few gems that can be found on this album were both enjoyable and memorable. I particularly loved the increasingly gorgeous and ambient sound of “COUNT OF UNEASE”, but just wished that I didn’t have to wait for the album’s final leg to hear it.
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Amnplify
Musically, THE FUTURE BITES positively gleams. Across the album, there’s tracks that deal in gorgeous electronics warped by human intervention (KING GHOST) and soaring acoustics that hit the stratosphere (12 THINGS I FORGOT); a ten minute treatise on the joys of oniomania laid out by Elton John over a Moroder-esque whirlwind (PERSONAL SHOPPER) and a relentless bass-driven Motorik groove that dives right into the murk of click bait and online radicalization (FOLLOWER).
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The Needle Drop
Steven Wilson's foray into a poppier direction isn't as flat or pretentious as it threatened to be.
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Under the Radar Magazine
While Wilson’s work has had longtime appeal within prog-rock circles, the musical approach of The Future Bites displays a kinship as well to both accessible pop and bands like Radiohead, though the enduring appeal of concept albums to the progressive-music community also maintains that connection.
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Treblezine
The results are admittedly muted; this record does not seem to destined to be an explosive landmark record but, nonetheless, its material is satisfying.
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Spectrum Culture
No matter where you look at the landscape of Steven Wilson recordings, nothing prepares you for The Future Bites. It’s unabashed in its ability to bite the hand that has fed it for all these years. Despite that, it is most definitely a Steven Wilson record and one that is not without some serious charms. Ignore it at your peril for this establishes that Wilson is an artist that will not be held back by anyones’ expectations.
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Loud Hailer Magazine
Steven Wilson yet again surprises us by remaining true to himself. In a career spanning over three decades, he has never been content with just one style of music. But despite its slick, big-scale production and futuristic sound, The Future Bites can’t hide Wilson’s unmistakable thumbprint.
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Live4ever Media
The Future Bites’ entreaties to caution and restraint don’t exactly set a populist frame to it, but this is a thinking artist gracefully shifting his audience’s perceptions in gradual terms. Unlike those it concerns itself with who can’t miss the endorphin blast of recognition, its creator still only seeks a path celebrity made strictly on his own terms.
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No Ripcord
Wilson has always loved his dramatic touches—from gospel backing vocals to buzzing synthesizers—but The Future Bites is the worst sounding album he’s ever put out.
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