PORCUPINE TREE // THE INCIDENT - CD

The concept of The Incident emerged as Steven Wilson was caught in a motorway traffic jam whilst driving past a road accident:

“There was a sign saying ‘POLICE – INCIDENT’ and everyone was slowing down to see what had happened… Afterwards, it struck me that ‘incident’ is a very detached word for something so destructive and traumatic for the people involved. And then I had the sensation that the spirit of someone that had died in the accident entered into my car and was sitting next to me. The irony of such a cold expression for such seismic events appealed to me, and I began to pick out other ‘incidents’ reported in the media and news, I wrote about the evacuation of teenage girls from a religious cult in Texas, a family terrorizing its neighbours, a body found floating in a river by some people on a fishing trip, and more. Each song is written in the first person and tries to humanize the detached media reportage.”