To the Bone is the fifth studio album by English recording artist Steven Wilson, released on 18 August 2017 on Caroline International. It was recorded two-and-a-half years after the release of Hand. Cannot. Erase. (2015), and one year after his mini-album, 4½ (2016). According to Wilson, the album is inspired by the progressive pop records of his youth, such as Peter Gabriel's So, Kate Bush's Hounds of Love, Talk Talk's The Colour of Spring, and Tears for Fears' The Seeds of Love.
In late 2016, Wilson announced that he had returned to the studio to record his fifth album. During the first months of 2017, Wilson released two work-in-progress studio clips to his KZfaq channel. On 5 January, he released a clip of "Pariah" and on 12 February, he released a clip of "To the Bone", featuring harmonica player Mark Feltham. Wilson continued to tease various images and small album details until 8 May when he revealed the track listing on his Instagram account and released the single "Pariah". The following day on his Instagram, he announced the album and an upcoming 2018 European tour, and the following week, on 18 May, a music video was released for "Pariah". Four further singles have been released to date: "The Same Asylum As Before", "Song of I", "Permanating" and "Refuge". A video for "Permanating" featuring a Bollywood dance troupe was released online on 21 July. A video for "Nowhere Now" was released on 19 September.
Steven Wilson - vocals (all tracks), guitars (all tracks except track 9), bass (tracks 1-3, 5, 8 and 11), keyboards (all tracks), production
Additional personnel
Ninet Tayeb - vocals (tracks 3, 7 and 8), backing vocals (tracks 1, 4 and 6)
David Kollar - guitars (tracks 9 and 10)
Paul Stacey - guitar solo (track 5)
Nick Beggs - bass (track 6 and 9)
Robin Mullarkey - bass (tracks 4 and 10)
Adam Holzman - piano (all tracks except track 8), clavinet (track 1), organ (tracks 1, 2, 5 and 6), Solina strings (tracks 5 and 10)
Craig Blundell - drums (tracks 1, 3, 8, 9 and 11)
Jeremy Stacey - drums (tracks 1, 2, 4-6 and 10)
Pete Eckford - percussion (tracks 1, 2, 6, 8 and 10)
Mark Feltham - harmonica (tracks 1 and 5)
Sophie Hunger - vocals (track 9)
Jasmine Walkes - spoken word (track 1)
David Kilminster - backing vocals (tracks 1, 2, 4 and 11)
Dave Stewart - string arrangements (tracks 2, 4, 9, 10 and 11)
The London Session Orchestra - strings (tracks 4, 9, 10 and 11)
Synergy Vocals - choir (track 11)
Paul Draper - sequencer (track 1)
Andy Partridge - lyrics (track 1)