Hand. Cannot. Erase.

The concept album was recorded in September 2014 at AIR Studios, London, UK. All band members of the previous album are also featured on the new recording. Wilson also described the album as more reflective of all of the different material in his back catalogue, featuring elements of electronic music and straightforward pop songs alongside long progressive-oriented tracks. ==Themes and concept==

According to Wilson, the concept album is written from a female perspective, and the concept and story are inspired by the case of Joyce Carol Vincent, where a woman living in a large city dies in her apartment and no one misses her for over two years, despite her having family and friends. Wilson explained: "The basic story, or concept of the record – it's about a woman growing up, who goes to live in the city, very isolated, and she disappears one day and no one notices. There's more to it than that. Now, what's really interesting about this story is that your initial reaction when you hear a story like that is, 'Ah, little old bag lady that no one notices, no one cares about.' [Vincent] wasn't [like that]. She was young, she was popular, she was attractive, she had many friends, she had family, but for whatever reason, nobody missed her for three years." ==Release and promotion==

The album was released in February 2015. A deluxe version of the album was also made available. Music from the album started being released to the public in January 2015, when a teaser trailer was released online, accompanied with a link to a blog written by the album's main character – a reclusive artist who writes about her interest in people who go missing and her talent for hiding in public. On 4 February 2015 a video for "Perfect Life" was released via Wilson's official YouTube channel. ==Critical reception==

Hand. Cannot. Erase. received acclaim from critics. Metacritic, a review aggregator, gave the album a weighted average rating of 89 out of 100, indicating universal acclaim, based on reviews from 8 critics. Eclipsed magazine described the album as "one more shining jewel in the discography of Steven Wilson. Modern, disturbing, brilliant!" Metal Hammer awarded Hand. Cannot. Erase. 6/7 and described it as "another masterpiece". US website FDRMX rated the album 4.8/5 and stated "Hand. Cannot. Erase. grabs your full attention from the beginning to the very final note, and that's the sign of a great album". Another 5 star review appeared in the March 2015 edition of Record Collector, who praised the album's "spellbinding poignancy and aching beauty". German magazine Visions declared Hand. Cannot. Erase. to be "The Wall for the Facebook generation". ==Track listing==

Adapted from Hand. Cannot. Erase. liner notes. (Track indices refer to the CD version) Band • Steven Wilson – lead vocals, Mellotron (tracks 1–10), keyboards (tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 7 and 8), guitars (tracks 2–10), bass guitar (tracks 1, 2 and 5–7), banjo (track 7), hammered dulcimer (track 9), programming (tracks 1–5, 9 and 10), shaker (tracks 3, 5 and 6), effects (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5 and 9–11) • Guthrie Govan – guitar (tracks 1, 2, 6, 7, 9 and 10), lead guitar (tracks 5, 7 and 9) • Nick Beggs – bass guitar (tracks 3 and 9), Chapman Stick (tracks 4, 6, 7 and 10), backing vocals (tracks 2, 4–6, 9 and 10) • Adam Holzman – piano (tracks 1–3, 5–7 and 9–11), Hammond organ (tracks 1–3, 5–7, 9 and 10), celesta (tracks 3, 5 and 9), Fender Rhodes (tracks 3, 4, 6 and 9), Wurlitzer (track 7), Moog Voyager synthesizer (track 7) • Marco Minnemann – drums (tracks 2–7 and 9) Additional musicians • Dave Gregory – guitars (tracks 2, 3 and 10) • Chad Wackerman – drums (track 10) • Ninet Tayeb – vocals (tracks 5 and 9), backing vocals (track 3) • Theo Travis – flute and baritone saxophone (track 9) • Katherine Begley – spoken word (track 4, erroneously listed as "Katherine Jenkins" in the liner notes) • Leo Blair – solo vocal (track 5) • Schola Cantorum of the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School – choir (tracks 5, 10 and 11) • London Session Orchestra – strings (tracks 9 and 10) Production • Steven Wilson – production, composition, arrangements, mixing, 5.1 mixing, artwork design • Dave Stewart — arrangements, conducting, transcription • Steve Price – string engineer • Laurence Anslow – engineer • Steve Orchard – engineer • Lasse Hoile — artwork, photography, film director • Hajo Mueller — illustrations • Carl Glover – design, layout ==Charts==