We grow tired just looking at Steven Wilson's diary. While he had only just released his third solo album, Hand. Cannot. Erase. (2015), its successor was already there in January: 4½ (an interlude along the way to his fifth album, hence the title). Besides running a solo career, the British multi-instrumentalist also leads the bands Porcupine Tree and No-Man, and is an active producer, composer, and session musician for Opeth, Marillion and Dream Theater, among others. All this hard work is paying dividends. Although he used to be a cult prog-rock hero with ambitious dreamy compositions leaning heavily on Pink Floyd, Van Der Graaf Generator and Yes, with time Wilson has now entered the mainstream. He has been nominated for a Grammy Award four times, and filled the Royal Albert Hall on two nights last year, while Hand. Cannot. Erase. did well on international album charts – second place on the Dutch charts was the most noteworthy of all.
