PS: The female vocals on the album are quite emotive. I was wondering if you could talk about who provided them and how you came to know that person or persons?

SW: Obviously, once I had this idea for the subject matter on the record, and I knew the character would be a female character, straightaway that was a challenge for me. I had to write the lyrics, and write the story, and write the blog and all the stuff that goes with the album from the perspective of a female character. It is something I’ve never done before.

That was my first challenge, and out of that challenge in a way came this thought: your character is female and you should have a female presence on the record — not just write through this female character but actually have a female voice literally a female voice on the record.

I have two female voices on the record. First, I have the voice of the British actress who relates the story on “Perfect Life,” and then I have this wonderful Israeli singer, Ninet Tayeb. She was recommended to me by my Blackfield colleague Aviv Geffen. We’ve had a partnership and made a few records together. That was one of three singers actually that auditioned for that particular song which is the key song that the female voice sings. Hers was the voice that literally blew me away. I think I was looking for something specific, and I guess I was looking for my Kate Bush or my Björk — I didn’t want such a generic female voice. I wanted someone who had more of a quirky, powerful quality to her voice, almost have control, and Ninet definitely had that so when I heard her voice I knew she was the one.

 

PS: You previously alluded to the blog and the website for the album. As you’ve done with previous records, on this one you included some really beautiful artwork, and extended the story in a way that a simple lyric sheet could not do the same on the website. Can you talk a little bit more about the presentation of this physical record before we talk a little bit the forthcoming tour?

SW: This is a story that mostly takes place in isolation. There is no dialogue between the character and other human beings, so much of the dialogue is kind of internal. It’s like an almost internal monologue which is happening with herself. Now how to present that—well, the answer I came up with was obviously this woman would perhaps be writing some kind of diary or the modern equivalent of course would be some kind of online blog. She may not be writing for anyone in particular. She may be writing just as a pure kind of indulgence, but having established that is the way she communicates her ideas and her thoughts and her day. That became a wonderful kind of device for, as you say, for revealing more about the character, more about the concept behind the record. We have this diary and blog which is taking place over a few years of this young woman’s life. As she gradually becomes more and more isolated, her thoughts become more and more surreal. You’re not quite sure at the end whether some of it is actually reality or if it’s fantasy. I like that kind of ambiguity. That gave an opportunity, of course, to illustrate the blog and the diary. In this whole kind of package, there are a lot of different sources. There’s photography, illustration, a child’s diary — written by a 13-year-old girl who obviously has a very different look again to the grown up blog. It has become a real gift actually for a proposition of interpretation and I’m really happy with the way it’s turned out.

 

PS: It looks great and that’s certainly part of the experience that you can’t get from either downloading it digitally or stealing the music outright. There’s a presentation I noticed with all of your records (including Porcupine Tree) that makes you want to own them.

SW: That’s kind of the idea. I grew up with vinyl records and remember the pleasure and the kind of buzz that I got from buying a beautiful vinyl record with the sleeve and the lyrics — all that kind of tactile experience that you could get from an old vinyl record.

I do think it’s a way to still carry that tradition forward in the packaging, not just with vinyl but also with specific editions in the way you present the digital versions, too. It’s a shame that more people don’t sort of don’t give more attention to the way they present their art. But for me it’s always been kind of synonymous with the music, the creativity doesn’t just end with you writing the songs, it carries through to the artwork, the website, and the live show, of course.