Richard Barbieri, of Japan and Porcupine Tree, returns with Hauntings, a new solo work exploring memory, simulation and spectral atmospheres across eleven immersive compositions
by Paul Cashmere
Richard Barbieri, the synthesist whose textural innovations helped define Japan and later shaped the sound of Porcupine Tree, will release his new solo album Hauntings on 10 April. It marks his first full studio statement since 2021’s Under A Spell and further extends the introspective, cinematic aesthetic he has refined across two distinct eras of British music.
On Hauntings, Barbieri constructs a sequence of instrumental pieces that move between shadow and light, nostalgia and futurism. The album’s central theme revolves around memory, imagined histories and alternate realities, the idea that events which never occurred can nonetheless linger in the psyche with remarkable force. The question posed is subtle but persistent, what is authentic experience and what is constructed perception?
Across eleven tracks, Barbieri’s sonic architecture draws on a wide palette of analogue and digital synthesis. The opening piece, “Snakes & Ladders”, establishes an atmosphere of unease, while “Anemoia” leans into the very concept of longing for a time never lived. “Victorian Wraith” and “1890” evoke a fog-laden nineteenth century London, gaslight flickering against damp cobblestones, before “Paris Sketch” shifts the frame to a grain-textured Belle Époque reverie.
Elsewhere, Barbieri turns his attention forward. “Artificial Obsession”, “Traveler” and “A New Simulation” pulse with modern anxiety, tightly coiled rhythmic patterns offset by expansive harmonic spaces. The mood is occasionally austere, yet moments of uplift surface in the interplay between melody and abstraction. Shorter pieces such as “Reveille” and “Last Post” function as tonal interludes, reinforcing the album’s conceptual cohesion.
While Barbieri remains the central architect, Hauntings features key contributions from Morgan Agren on drums and percussion, Percy Jones on bass guitar and Luca Calabrese on trumpet. Their performances provide organic counterpoints to Barbieri’s meticulous electronic design, adding depth and dynamic nuance without diluting the record’s introspective focus.
Barbieri’s stature in contemporary music is rooted in a career that began in the mid-1970s. Born on 30 November 1957, he co-founded Japan in 1975 alongside David Sylvian, Mick Karn and Steve Jansen. Initially overlooked in the UK, Japan found early commercial traction in Japan before achieving broader recognition with 1981’s Tin Drum. Barbieri’s programming and textural sensibility were central to that album’s distinctive blend of art rock and emerging electronic minimalism. The group disbanded after a world tour in 1982, but their influence on artists such as The Human League, Duran Duran, Gary Numan and Talk Talk has been widely acknowledged.
Following Japan, Barbieri collaborated extensively with Jansen, Karn and Sylvian, including the Rain Tree Crow project and numerous releases under permutations of Jansen/Barbieri and Jansen/Barbieri/Karn. He also worked with Italian singer Alice and British art-pop group No-Man, where he first encountered Steven Wilson.
In 1993, Barbieri joined Porcupine Tree, becoming, alongside Wilson, the band’s longest-serving member. His keyboard work is embedded in albums including In Absentia, Deadwing, Fear Of A Blank Planet and 2022’s Closure/Continuation. As Porcupine Tree evolved from psychedelic roots through progressive rock into heavier terrain, Barbieri’s role remained integral, shaping atmosphere as much as structure.
His solo catalogue, beginning with Things Buried in 2005, has allowed a more personal exploration of texture and mood. Releases such as Stranger Inside and Planets + Persona demonstrated a growing interest in narrative sequencing and thematic continuity. The Variants EP series, issued between 2017 and 2018, showcased improvisations and reworked material, highlighting Barbieri’s ongoing fascination with variation and sonic reinterpretation.
With Hauntings, Barbieri appears to synthesise decades of experience into a cohesive meditation on time and perception. The album does not trade in overt virtuosity, instead prioritising atmosphere, detail and emotional resonance. It is a continuation of a trajectory that has consistently favoured subtlety over spectacle, depth over immediacy.
Hauntings will be released on 10 April.
Tracklisting:
Snakes & Ladders [05:33]
Anemoia [05:09]
Victorian Wraith [03:02]
1890 [03:58]
Artificial Obsession [05:07]
Paris Sketch [05:47]
Perfect Toys [03:48]
Traveler [05:41]
Reveille [01:54]
Last Post [02:23]
A New Simulation [04:38]
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