STEVEN WILSON THE OVERVIEW FICTION

Steven Wilson returned to his progressive rock roots in 2025 with an epic two-track concept album and a wow-factor tour. Somehow, he even managed to find the time to remix Pink Floyd and a whole host of other rock and pop icons, too.

- Words: Dave Ling Portraits: Kevin Westenberg

Steven Wilson doesn't like to repeat himself, so perhaps it's no surprise that he should follow up The Harmony Codex's electronic puzzle with the two-part prog epic, The Overview. His eighth studio album set the idea of the overview effect — the psychological shift of viewing Earth from space — to an elegant and expansive soundtrack with a little lyrical help from XTC's Andy Partridge.

Many fans and critics have hailed it as his finest work to date, so it's perhaps unsurprising that The Overview should receive the highest number of votes in this year's Critics' Choice. In our review, we described it as "21st-century progressive music and more satisfying for it" but it formed just one element of Wilson's 2025 output. Continuing his work as a sought-after remixer, he also turned his attention this year towards creating a new Dolby Atmos mix of Pink Floyd's Live At Pompeii, in addition to producing new mixes for Phil Collins, Jethro Tull and Solstice, among others. He's arguably one of prog's hardest-working and most prolific artists, an accolade he shows every indication of retaining in 2026. It's a wonder he ever finds time to sleep! Wilson took some time out from his busy schedule to bring us up to speed.

Congratulations on The Overview winning the Critics' Choice.

This is an age of a million available online opinions and increasingly over the last 10 years or so, I've deliberately insulated myself from feedback to my work. The record company may say, “You got a great review in The Times,” and I tell them not to show it to me. So I'm only now starting to realise how the album was received.

That's the long answer to the question. The short answer is: That's lovely, and I really appreciate it. Getting such validation from people whose opinions I respect is astounding, so thank you all.

A large chunk of 2025 was spent touring. How did that go?