Porcupine Tree on course for this week’s number one album

nme.com:

Porcupine Tree look set to earn the first number one album of their career this week with new album, ‘Closure/Continuation’.It’s the band’s eleventh album of their career, plus their first since going on hiatus in 2009.While the physical sales are strong, the band face tough competition from Harry Styles and Drake, streaming sales for their recently released albums are high according to The Official Charts.Elsewhere in the chart, new entries look set to appear from Chris Brown, Luke Combs, Conan Gray and Eric Clapton’s new collection of 17 previously unreleased live performances from 1994.The trio released new album ‘Closure/Continuation’ on June 24 – their first since going on hiatus after 10th album ‘The Incident’ in 2009.Singer/guitarist/keyboardist/bassist Steven Wilson, keyboardist Richard Barbieri and drummer Gavin Harrison also celebrated their return by announcing a European tour in October and November, climaxing with a huge homecoming show at SSE Wembley Arena on November 11.Speaking to NME about their new album, Wilson said: “We felt there was unfinished business.

Our last album, ‘The Incident’, wasn’t our best. We’d got into the album/tour/album/tour cycle, when it’s always been important to feel like there’s a reason to make a new record, that it should have its own personality.

We walked away from all that, without necessarily meaning to.“We actually started working on this album 10 years ago. It’s taken so long partly because we’ve all been doing other things and also because, the longer time went on, the more we realised that if we were to come back, it had to be something great that felt fresh.