It Leads to This by The Pineapple Thief
Bruce Soord, “mastermind” of the band The Pineapple Thief, delivers a sophisticated, delicate prog album. Quite straightforward and yet unmistakably prog. Here every cog meshes together and you can hear it. With Gavin Harrison on drums, a Porcupine Tree Big-Head comes to use, which has been around since “Your Wilderness“ (2016).
Luckily, I went into Bruce Soord's music with an open mind, I only know "Your Wilderness" and this album. So I can't make any comparisons with the pre-Harrison era and I'm leaving Porcupine Tree out of it. It sounds melodic, melancholic, gently sung, with short "outbursts" on the instruments. It all sounds very smooth, clean and harmonious. The lyrics flow harmoniously. Short-Prog? Yes, but relievingly beautiful. Nevertheless, there is enough variety. The 8 songs on this LP are meant to be heard together. There is no long-runner.
It starts gently with “It leads to This”, the strongest part of which begins halfway through the song. Finely chiseled prog. “Rubicon” brings a rocky note into play, with beautiful drums and guitar. I don't want to talk about highlights, as I see it as a facet of this LP. The title song brings us back with prog-in-a-nutshell, easy beginning, then picks me up. It has a slightly poppy sound for me, which doesn't bother me. There it is again, that bad word.
“The Frost” is not my favorite song. It fits in, but It doesn't really work for me. And I've listened to the album often enough. “All that's Left” flows along beautifully and then goes into a rocky middle section, before flowing beautifully again. Again briefly rocky and a quiet finish. Highlight? I can't get into the following “Now it's Yours” until the 3 minute mark, then it shows its true strength. “Every Trace of Us” doesn't grab me at all, it's almost disturbing. It breaks the atmosphere a little, fits or isn't meant to fit in. “To Forget” spoils the listener with prog, a successful throw-off.
As is often the case, Bruce Soord is concerned with the questions of life and where it all leads. How do we fit into constantly changing circumstances?
The record is of good quality, sits firmly on the plate and sounds as if it were made from a single piece.
Bruce Soord (guitar / vocals)
Jon Sykes (Bass / Backing Vocals)
Gavin Harrison (drums / percussion)
Steve Kitch (Keyboards)
Site A
Put it Right 05:30, Rubicon 04:37, It leads to This 04:43, The Frost 05:40
Site B
All thats Left 04:26, Now it’s Yours 05:59, Every trace of Us 04:30, To Forget 05:20
The photos are all from my LP. The rights to all motifs, logos, texts and fonts that can be seen in the photos are of course owned by the copyright holder.
