THE ATMOS BRANCH

Porcupine Tree returns after a decade-long hiatus to deliver a career benchmark, Closure/ Continuation. All three band members give us the scoop on how it all took root, and Steven Wilson takes us inside the making of the album's truly stunning Dolby Atmos mix.

- MIKE METTLER

PORCUPINE TREE MUSIC and Dolby Atmos are nothing short of a mixing match made in heaven. To be more specific, the post-progressive British collective and the burgeoning immersive surround format are a match made in the height and side channels. Listening to Closure/Continuation (Music For Nations/Sony Music), Porcupine Tree's first album of all-new music in over 12 ¹/2 years by way of its unabashedly mind-boggling Atmos mix-a mix courtesy of Steven Wilson, the band's leading force and the unchallenged king of 360-degree music-making and music-mixing one can't help but marvel at how this still-growing format now has an official milestone mix showcasing everything it can be, and more.

"Everyone is doing Atmos now, but we're all still learning about it at the moment," allows Wilson. "What works? What doesn't work? Everyone has an opinion about what Atmos should be, but obviously and you know this, from talking to me about it many times before I like to be quite aggressive with my use of the surround field. That was always the case in 5.1, and it's only been magnified now that I'm working with 7.1.4 in my studio. There are a lot of things to consider about trying to keep a mix cohesive, whilst also making it an incredibly three-dimensional experience for the listeners."