Steven Wilson on Requiem for a Village: Finding Magic in the Mistakes

About this episode

Steven Wilson returns to the Now Spinning Magazine podcast to explore Requiem for a Village — an album he describes as “54 minutes of cinema for the ears”. Living in a small rural village in Cornwall, I felt an immediate connection to its atmosphere: the old ways overlapping with the new, familiar places holding strange stories, and the sense that time might have stood still. In this conversation, Steven explains why guitarist Randy McStine was told to play the guitar as he found it, even if it had drifted out of tune, and why resisting the temptation to correct things became one of the album’s biggest challenges. We also discuss: • Building the village’s mythology with XTC’s Andy Partridge. • David Tennant’s narration and the unexpected connection to Ivor Cutler. • Katherine Priddy, “Murmuration” and traditional murder ballads. • Bringing together heavy guitars, folk, electronic music and drum and bass. • AI, human fingerprints and rediscovering the freedom of a beginner. • The possibility of returning to the village in a future album. Before this, Hand. Cannot. Erase. was my favourite Steven Wilson album. During this interview, I explain why Requiem for a Village has taken it