Grammy Award-nominated British rock band PORCUPINE TREE has returned with its first new music in close to 12 years. “Harridan” premieres today at all DSPs and streaming services. An epic, eight-minute-long reintroduction to PORCUPINE TREE‘s truly singular sound, “Harridan” is joined by an official lyric video, streaming now via YouTube.
“Harridan” heralds the release of PORCUPINE TREE‘s long-awaited eleventh studio album, “Closure / Continuation”, due on Friday, June 24 via Music For Nations/Megaforce Records. The LP — which follows 2009’s “The Incident” — will be available on standard CD, standard black vinyl 2×12″ LP, white vinyl 2×12″ LP, transparent blue vinyl 2×12″ LP, and white cassette. In addition, a limited audiophile deluxe LP will also be available, cut at 45rpm on 3×12″ clear vinyl in 12″ slipcase box with two bonus tracks; a limited audiophile deluxe CD in 12″ slipcase box will include the standard CD, a second disc with three bonus tracks and instrumentals, Blu-ray disc with 5.1/Dolby Atmos and HD audio versions of the album, and an exclusive album art book. Pre-orders are available now.
“‘Harridan’ and a few of the other new songs have been in play since shortly after the release of ‘The Incident’,” says PORCUPINE TREE. “They initially lived on a hard drive in a slowly growing computer file marked PT2012, later renamed PT2015, PT2018, and so on. There were times when we even forgot they were there, and times when they nagged us to finish them to see where they would take us. Listening to the finished pieces, it was clear that this wasn’t like any of our work outside of the band — the combined DNA of the people behind the music meant these tracks were forming what was undeniably, unmistakably, obviously a PORCUPINE TREE record. You’ll hear all of that DNA flowing right through ‘Harridan’.”
PORCUPINE TREE — Steven Wilson, Richard Barbieri and Gavin Harrison — will celebrate their long-overdue return with a wide-ranging world tour, set to hit North America next fall. The band recently unveiled a series of European live shows — their first since October 2010 — getting underway October 21, 2022 in Berlin, Germany and then culminating at London’s world-famous SSE Arena, Wembley on November 11.
PORCUPINE TREE European tour 2022:
Oct. 21 – Berlin, DE – Max Schmelinghalle
Oct. 23 – Vienna, AU – Gasometer
Oct. 24 – Milan, IT – Forum
Oct. 27 – Stockholm, SW – Globe
Oct. 28 – Copenhagen, DK – Falkoner Theatre
Oct. 30 – Katowice, PO – Spodek Hall
Nov. 02 – Paris, FR – Le Zenith
Nov. 04 – Stuttgart, DE – Porsche Arena
Nov. 06 – Oberhausen, DE – KP Arena
Nov. 07 – Amsterdam, NL – Ziggodome
Nov. 09 – Zurich, CH – Halle 622
Nov. 11 – London, UK – SSE Arena, Wembley
One of the most forward-thinking, genre-defying rock bands of any era, PORCUPINE TREE was founded in 1987 by renowned musician/producer Steven Wilson as an outlet for the experimental recordings he was making outside of his acclaimed post-rock duo NO-MAN. With the addition of keyboard player Richard Barbieri and drummer Gavin Harrison, PORCUPINE TREE soon evolved into a proper band, releasing 10 studio albums between 1992 and 2009. Each new release saw PORCUPINE TREE exploring new musical ideas, their expansive music shifting from pastoral psychedelic rock and ambient electronic soundscapes to experimental pop and propulsive metal. Later releases like 2007’s Grammy Award-nominated “Fear Of A Blank Planet” and 2009’s “The Incident” — the band’s biggest seller thus far, reaching the top 25 in both the U.S. and the U.K. — saw PORCUPINE TREE effortlessly melding distinctive genres to create a groundbreaking musical universe all their own.
As relentlessly creative on stage as they are in the studio, PORCUPINE TREE proved innovative live performers known for sonic innovation and inventive visual productions. In October 2010, the band entered a period of hiatus following a spectacular concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall — their biggest live show to date.
The most collaborative album of their highly lauded career, “Closure / Continuation” doesn’t simply pick up where PORCUPINE TREE left off back in 2010. While the familiar traits of the band’s idiosyncratic sound remain intact, the new album very much places PORCUPINE TREE in the here and now, with greater texture and color than ever before.
