Last year, Steven Wilson broke new ground with ‘December Skies’ – An evocative, seasonal release with a twist. He embraced AI technology, collaborating with ChatGPT to create the lyrics for the something, resulting in something uniquely him yet intriguingly new.
Now, one year on, ‘December Skies’ will be given a physical release on 6th December on limited editionCD and 7-inch vinyl formats. Both will include vocal and instrumental versions of the song and three exclusive Steven Wilson Christmas cards (illustrated by Hajo Mueller who also created the front cover). In keeping with Wilson’s trailblazing commitment to immersive audio, ‘December Skies’ will also be released in Dolby Atmos and spatial audio on Apple, Tidal and Amazon as well as a standard audio release on all other streaming platforms.
Originally given a low-key release exclusively on Steven Wilson’s YouTube channel and accompanied by an appropriately AI-assisted video by Miles Skarin, ‘December Skies’ quickly and quietly racked up in excess of 200,000 views over a few days. The track, originally written as an experiment after a friend challenged Wilson to create a Christmas song, is said to capture the loneliness and reflective beauty of the winter season.
“Just before Christmas last year I was challenged by a friend of mine to write a Christmas song, something I’d never considered doing before. My stuff is way too miserable to make for a joyous Christmas song I reasoned, but with an AI version of myself helping out with some suitably seasonal lyrics, the result was ‘December Skies’”, said Wilson ‘It was swiftly recorded over a weekend with a little help from my buddy Randy McStine on lead guitar and backing vocals, and released online a few days before Christmas 2023. I have to say I’m incredibly pleased with the way it came out, so I’m super happy that it’s going to get its moment again this Xmas, and in physical form too!”
Steven Wilson recently announced The Overview Tour for 2025 that will see him joined by Nick Beggs, Adam Holzman, Craig Blundell and Randy McStine for a huge run of European shows in celebration of his new album The Overview.
Wilson has released a string of acclaimed solo albums, the last three all reaching the UK top 5 album chart, with 2021’s The Future Bites additionally being nominated for two Grammy awards. He has also amassed an extensive list of production and remixing credits for the likes of Tears For Fears, The Who, Van Morrison, New Order, Black Sabbath, and King Crimson among many others.
‘December Skies’ will be released through Transmission on 6th December and available from here.
