Following up an early string of well-received progressive albums with a poorly-received foray into 'adult pop' on To the Bone and The Future Bites, Steven Wilson appears to have pulled back towards prog on this, his latest solo effort. Featuring two lengthy pieces (split into ten named songs on the digital edition) entitled Objects Outlive Us and The Overview, this is his eighth full-length as a solo artist, and does feel a little of a mixed bag in terms of contents if not quality. Containing a little something for everyone, The Overview is based upon the cognitive shift experienced by astronauts while viewing the earth from space, and the album is suitably grandiose. Objects Outlive Us (part-written by Andy Partridge of XTC, of all people!) opens with No Monkey's Paw and The Buddha of the Modern Age; soft, almost Tangerine Dream ambience, falsetto vocals and piano before a more strident set of vocals join, building with the track in a distinctly Pink Floyd-influenced manner.

Objects: Meanwhile is the most Porcupine Tree-esque section, for those looking for that; lyrics contradicting everyday events on earth such as dropped shopping bags with more astral movements such as meteor movements and "star clusters smashing". It's as wistful and pleasantly melancholic as fans will expect, yet doesn't make the rest of the piece feel lesser in comparison, particularly with the acoustic strums that follow in The Cicerones/Ark. This compounds the vibes, building again in a particularly proggy fashion with various twangy-sounding guitar leads and solos with effects piled on effects in Cosmic Sons of Toil, ending sounding like something from modern Rush. No Ghost on the Moor/Heat Death of the Universe follows, returning to ambience and falsettos, some spoken word and electronic fuzz.

A little bit underwhelming for an ending, and the following title track sadly continues that with Perspective, Steven's wife Rotem reading out names of astral objects and distances between them atop an electronic, downright EDM backing - a little robotic-feeling after the more intense emotional moments elsewhere. Fortunately the ensuing A Beautiful Infinity/Borrowed Atoms returns to prog Porcupine Tree-style with strummed guitars and real drums atop some pretty keyboards and lyrics about an astronaut missing his deceased wife, leading into another Pink Floyd-esque passage. Sometimes these feel as though Wilson is straying a little too close to his influences, but generally they fit in well enough not to matter - apparently he was originally considered making this music for an art installation, and there's something of that feel to the lesser moments here.

Thankfully it's limited, and the better moments far outnumber the lesser ones; for example, although the spoken word returns in Infinity Measured in Moments it's much more limited, and is dominated rather by the spacejazz instrumentation atop an electronic backing. Finale Permanence is impressive too, soft and ambient with more subtle jazzy influences. It all adds up to a tough recommendation for those new to Wilson - his earlier solo work is far more impressive, yet this is something of a return to the style that fans seem to prefer, which we have to applaud him for. Ultimately The Overview is good enough to be worth experiencing in its own rights, too, particularly for progheads who don't mind taking a little aural trip.