Steven Wilson Releases Requiem For A Village Album

Steven Wilson wrote a set of rules for his band before they recorded the album Requiem For A Village, to avoid what he describes as vanilla prog appearing on the record. One of Wilson's rules with his guitar player Randy was that the guitar is played as found and must not be tuned if it drifted out of tune.

Wilson said in February that he wanted to remain in the realm of the conceptual and large scale but get back to a more quirky musical vocabulary, keeping little quirks and imperfections. Wilson said he played instruments he cannot play, approaching them as a child would, such as violin and drums.

The album, Wilson's ninth solo release, features contributions by XTC's Andy Partridge and actor David Tennant. Wilson confirmed he has talked with Andy Partridge about there possibly being a sequel to Requiem For A Village.

Wilson said there will always be a market for vanilla prog rock, and he made a record like that with The Raven as a homage to a 70s prog rock record. Requiem For A Village is on sale now. As of November 7, 2026, the album Requiem for a Village by Steven Wilson is number 42 on the Apple Music UK albums chart.