Steven Wilson – Routine

Steven Wilson has launched the stunning animated video for Routine. The hugely emotive track featuring a beautiful guest vocal performance by Ninet Tayeb is taken from his latest album ‘Hand. Cannot. Erase.’

Steven Wilson said: “Amongst the hundreds of songs I have written over the years Routine has a very special place. It’s a deeply sad story of loss and denial, but at its conclusion the clouds lift and there is acceptance at least. Having worked with her on 3 previous videos, I knew as soon as I wrote it that it was perfect for Jess to do something amazing with. Even then nothing prepared me for the organic beauty and power of the film she made, a painstaking labour of love that took her months to produce. When we play the song live I look out into the audience and see people swept away with emotion at the combination of music and animation. To find poetry and beauty in sadness is a wonderful thing I think.”

Director Jess Cope of Owlhouse Studios (www.OwlHouseStudios.com) talks about working with Steven Wilson and the creation of the ‘Routine’ video: “Routine is the forth film that Owl House Studio has made in collaboration with Steven Wilson and the biggest one yet. The story centres on a woman dealing with the tragic loss of her family and the routine she creates for herself to try and cope. The themes in Steven’s music are often quite morbid and macabre and when we heard Routine for the first time, Tom Kaye (Writer/Producer) and I knew the story had to be really strong, to do justice to the music.

Working with Steven is always a fantastic experience for us creatively. In the early stages, Steven often has a strong concept in mind for a song or album, but allows us the creative freedom to add our own style and ideas to it.

Our use of traditional animation and the painstaking efforts of the whole Owl House Studios team, have resulted in a film with a level of beauty and detail not previously achieved by the studio – at the same time it is simple enough that the music always drives the story.

We’re so pleased with the look of the puppet and sets, and especially the level of detail Alison Cross (Art Director/Prop Maker) managed to get into the props. This project also saw us working with Adam Oehlers (Concept Artist) for the first time and he was able to capture the tone from our script so perfectly. Working with such a diverse team and amazingly talented animators, we were able to bring this woman’s world to life.

I’m proud of all the films we’ve made with Steven Wilson, but I’m especially fond of ‘Routine’. The response we’ve received has been phenomenal. It’s incredibly humbling to see that something we’ve helped create has touched so many people and reduced a good number of them to tears… It’s an extraordinary and ironic satisfaction!

Hand. Cannot. Erase. the fourth solo album from the four-time Grammy nominee, multi-instrumentalist and producer has received universal praise from the media and fans alike rewarding Steven Wilson his highest chart positions worldwide including UK #13 ,Germany # 3, Netherlands #2, USA – #39 Billboard Top 200, Canada #24 & Finland #4 national album charts. Steven Wilson was, recently, awarded an unprecedented 3 PROG Magazine Awards for Hand. Cannot. Erase. including Best Album, Commercial Breakthrough, and Boxset Design alongside a nomination for Classic Rock Magazine’s Album Of The Year.

With sold out shows around the world including his 2 recent performances at London’s prestigious Royal Albert Hall Steven Wilson will be continuing to tour Hand. Cannot. Erase. starting in Germany on January 12th, the 2016 European tour takes Steven to Belgium, Holland, UK, France, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Hungary, Italy and Greece.