''The Harmony Codex'' is the seventh studio album by British musician Steven Wilson, released on 29 September2023 through

Virgin Music Group Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), Tom Newman. It ...

Background

The record was first announced on 29 August 2023 with the release of lead single "Economies of Scale". Since then, the tracks "Impossible Tightrope", "Rock Bottom", and "What Life Brings" have been released as singles. The album is said to be "a genre-spanning collection that opens up like a musical puzzle box" and musically more complex than Wilson's previous album. Along with the release of the standalone record, also released was a three-disc limited edition featuring a collection of bonus tracks under the name ''Harmonic Distortion''.

Recording

Steven Wilson supposedly worked on the album "in a studio tucked inside a garage of a North London townhouse", piecing together the tracks with remote help from collaborators

Ninet Tayeb Nati Ninet Tayeb ( he, נינט טייב; born October 21, 1983), commonly known as Ninet, is an Israeli musician, singer-songwriter, composer, DJ, model, actress, and a reality television program judge in '' Rising Star: Israel''. She is conside ...

Craig Blundell Frost* are an English neo-progressive rock supergroup, formed in 2004 by Jem Godfrey and members of Arena, Kino, and IQ. Frost* released their first studio album, '' Milliontown'', in 2006, before splitting up. In 2008, Godfrey reformed Fro ...

, Adam Holzman,

Jack Dangers Jack Dangers (born John Stephen Corrigan, 11 January 1965) is an English electronic musician, DJ, producer, and remixer best known for his work as the primary member of Meat Beat Manifesto. He lives in San Francisco. Career Prior to founding ...

, and

Sam Fogarino Samuel Joseph Fogarino (born August 9, 1968) is the drummer of the band Interpol. He has played in bands such as the Holy Terrors, Gus, the Wahoos, Napoleon Solo, the Ton-ups and the Last Night. Biography Fogarino began to play the drums at the ...

Track listing

Personnel

* Steven Wilson – vocals , acoustic guitar , ARP 2600 , audio feedback , bass guitar ,

celesta The celesta or celeste , also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five-octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music box ( ...

, Cobalt 8 synthesizer , electric guitars , electric piano , harp ,

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

, horn .

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

, Moog Arpeggiator ,

Moog Sub 37 The Moog Sub 37 is a limited edition monophonic analog synthesizer manufactured by Moog Music Moog Music Inc. () is an American synthesizer company based in Asheville, North Carolina. It was founded in 1953 as R. A. Moog Co. by Robert Moog and ...

synthesizer , percussion , piano , programming , Prophet-6 synthesizer ,

Rhodes piano The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...

, Solina Strings , strings ,

theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone/etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named afte ...

, voices Session musicians * Adam Holzman – Rhodes piano , piano , DFAM loops ,

Modular synthesizer Modular synthesizers are synthesizers composed of separate modules for different functions. The modules can be connected together by the user to create a patch. The outputs from the modules may include audio signals, analog control voltages, o ...

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...

solo ,

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

organ * Ben Coleman – violin *

– drums ,

hi-hat A hi-hat (hihat, high-hat, etc.) is a combination of two cymbals and a pedal, all mounted on a metal stand. It is a part of the standard drum kit used by drummers in many styles of music including rock, pop, jazz, and blues. Hi-hats consist o ...

, percussion *

David Kollar David Kollar (born 25 October 1983) is a Slovak Experimental music, experimental guitarist and composer. He was born in Prešov into a musical family. He began his career at the end of the nineties in various amateur groups. He studied with guitari ...

– lead guitar , ambient guitar * David Kosten – programming *

Guy Pratt Guy Adam Pratt (born 3 January 1962) is a British musician. He is best known for his prolific work as a session bass player, working with artists including Pink Floyd (also David Gilmour and Nick Mason), Roxy Music (also Bryan Ferry), Gary M ...

– bass guitar *

– electric beats , programming * Jason Cooper –

tom drum A tom drum is a cylindrical drum with no snares, named from the Anglo-Indian and Sinhala language. It was added to the drum kit in the early part of the 20th century. Most toms range in size between in diameter, though floor toms can go as la ...

* Lee Harris – psychedelic guitar * Nate Wood – drums *

Nick Beggs Nicholas Beggs (born 15 December 1961Larkin, Colin (1997) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music'', Virgin Books, , p. 270-271) is an English musician, noted for playing the bass guitar and the Chapman Stick; he is a member of the Mute Go ...

– Chapman Stick * Niko Tsonev – guitars , lead guitar * Nate Navarro – fretless bass , bass guitar * Nils Petter Molvaer – trumpet *

– vocals , guitars , backing vocals *

Pat Mastelotto Lee Patrick Mastelotto (born September 10, 1955) is an American rock drummer and record producer. He has been a member of King Crimson, Stick Men, Mr. Mister and O.R.k., as well as working as a session drummer with XTC, The Pointer Sisters an ...

– drums , percussion * Rotem Wilson – voices * Samuel Fogarino – drums * Theo Travis – flute , saxophone ,

duduk The duduk ( ; hy, դուդուկ ) or tsiranapogh ( hy, ծիրանափող, meaning “apricot-made wind instrument”), is an ancient Armenian double reed woodwind instrument made of apricot wood. It is indigenous to Armenia. Variations of th ...

Session musicians on ''Harmonic Distortion'' *

Aaron Sterling Aaron Sterling (born July 9, 1980) is an American drummer, producer, engineer, and session musician who lives in Los Angeles. The son of professional musicians, Sterling grew up in Texas and Nashville, Tennessee, before moving to L.A. in 2000. K ...

– drums * Adam Holzman – piano * Ben Coleman – violin * Doug Petty – keyboards , strings arrangements * James Dean Bradfield – guitars * Mikael Åkerfeldt – vocals * Nate Navarro – bass guitar *

Nicky Wire Nicholas Allen Jones (born 20 January 1969), known as Nicky Wire, is a Welsh musician and songwriter, best known as lyricist, bassist and secondary vocalist of the Welsh alternative rock band, Manic Street Preachers. Prior to the group, Wire s ...

– bass guitar *

Roland Orzabal Roland Orzabal (born Roland Jaime Orzabal de la Quintana; 22 August 1961) is a British musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, and author. He is best known as a co-founder of Tears for Fears, of which he is the main songwriter and joint v ...

– keyboards , programming * Sean Moore – drums Production * Steven Wilson – production, mixing * Adam Holzman – mixing * David Kosten – additional production , mixing * Josef E-Shine – additional production * Loz Williams – production ,

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, Blackwood in 1986. The band consists of cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (musician ...

– production , engineering *

Dave Eringa David James Eringa (born 30 July 1971 in Brentwood, Essex) is an English record producer, sound and mix engineer. Biography He has a career long association with the Manic Street Preachers, he was on tea making duties on their first single "M ...

– remixing * Jack Dangers – additional production , remixing *

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...

– remixing * Roland Orzabal – additional production *

Mark Ayres Mark Ayres is an electronic musician, composer and audio engineer. Ayres studied music and electronics at Keele University. He also worked as a sound engineer at TV-am between 1982 and 1987. As a television composer, he became known for providi ...

– production * Matt Colton – mastering * Carl Glover – design, photography * Hajo Müller – photography

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harmony Codex 2023 albums Albums produced by Steven Wilson Spinefarm Records albums Steven Wilson albums Virgin Records albums 2020s concept albums