Steven Wilson is certainly no stranger to epics. Whether his work in the band Porcupine Tree with songs like the sprawling “Anesthetize,” or his solo effort about serial killer Denis Rader “Raider II,” he has proven quite the knack for epic songs, cycles, and albums over the years. It should prove no surprise that his recent single for the upcoming The Future Bites, “Personal Shopper,” shares this epic quality.
Clocking at a runtime of 9min 49sec and featuring additional vocals from Sir Elton John, among others, “Personal Shopper” marks a departure from the known world of his progressive rock fanbase and boldly presses onward into the electronic realms that have garnered his interest over the years. From the outset one can hear his love of ambient synths taking a center point as well as his stretchy falsetto that he’s dabbled with periodically since Fear of a Blank Planet.
Lyrically, “Personal Shopper” is a fairly straight forward attack on consumer culture. The song is replete with moments suggesting that everything about our lives is about buying something. Whether its clothing, dental hygiene products, and even takes tongue in cheek dig at Deluxe Album box sets – certainly something he’s done his fair share of – self defense courses, it’s almost endless. He’s not wrong, though perhaps it feels a little bit obvious and until the rest of the album comes out it merely sounds condemning without suggesting what we should be doing in lieu of this.
I’ll admit, I’m guilty of some of the behaviors mentioned – buying new versions of films I already own, to be specific – and perhaps maybe that’s what he’s getting at. There’s something that all of us do that seems to lack comprehension other than the need to consume. Something we identify with that “…sets you apart and gives you the ultimate high…” The song punctuates this by ending with Sir Elton John’s echoing voice chanting various “self” hyphenates such as, self-obsession, self-love, self-control, self-doubt, self-indulgence, self-esteem.
The Future Bites releases to all the usual streaming and physical outlets on June 12th.
