{"id":28627,"date":"2024-12-18T05:30:31","date_gmt":"2024-12-18T10:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=28627"},"modified":"2024-11-25T17:07:12","modified_gmt":"2024-11-25T22:07:12","slug":"the-pineapple-thief-remaining-open-to-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/18\/the-pineapple-thief-remaining-open-to-change\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pineapple Thief: Remaining Open to Change"},"content":{"rendered":"

Progressive quartet The Pineapple Thief has been busy. The group from Southwest England released It Leads to This<\/i>, its 15th<\/sup> studio album in February. Led by guitarist and songwriter Bruce Soord, the band is currently on tour in the U.S.; European and UK dates will follow well into 2025. Amid all that activity, The Pineapple Thief has found time to record and release a five-song EP, Last to Run.<\/i><\/p>\n

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In the earliest days of The Pineapple Thief, the group wasn\u2019t a group at all. Instead it was the name used to describe the music made by Soord, as featured on Abducting the Unicorn<\/i>, a 1999 debut album for which he wrote all the songs, played nearly all the instruments and sang all the vocal parts. With a style that has been likened to a mashup of Porcupine Tree and Radiohead, Soord crafted an engaging set of songs. He employed the same approach for 2002\u2019s 137<\/i> and Variations on a Dream<\/i> from 2003. But shortly after the latter\u2019s release, he made the decision to put together an actual group, one that could play live.<\/p>\n

Over the next decade-plus, The Pineapple Thief continued to create and release well-received albums that drew on the melodic side of progressive rock, with inventive and compelling arrangements. Songs often explored themes of isolation, conflict and a melancholy air. Soord continued to write alone, and the overall character of the group’s music reflected that.<\/p>\n

2014 brought major changes to The Pineapple Thief. Drummer Gavin Harrison joined the group. Harrison\u2019s peerless prog pedigree already included tenure with two of prog\u2019s biggest acts: Porcupine Tree and King Crimson. And while Harrison didn\u2019t take a major writing role in either of those groups, he would collaborate extensively with Bruce Soord.<\/p>\n

The change showed. \u201cFor 20 years, the way I wrote music was on my own,\u201d Soord explains. But once he engaged Harrison as a songwriting partner, the entire dynamic shifted. \u201cWhen he came on board, I would work on an idea, send it to Gavin, and he\u2019d go, \u2018Oh, I like this,\u2019\u201d Soord says. \u201cHe\u2019d add some ideas, chop it around, send it back to me.\u201d There was a leisurely flow to that process. \u201cI\u2019d get a part from Gavin, and I\u2019d spend the next couple of days mulling it over until I was really happy with it, then I\u2019d send it back.\u201d<\/p>\n

That approach \u2013 Soord writing lyrics and working with Harrison to craft melodies \u2013 served The Pineapple Thief well; the run of albums beginning with 2018\u2019s Dissolution<\/i> onward are considered some of the group’s best work. But as they approached the making of their latest full-length release, 2024\u2019s It Leads to This<\/i>, The Pineapple Thief changed their working methods yet again.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a track on the new album called \u2018Rubicon,\u2019\u201d Soord explains. \u201cGavin said to me, \u2018I\u2019ve got this rhythm.\u2019 It\u2019s in a quite challenging time signature, a sort of 5\/4 shuffle.\u201d They played together, and the song grew out of that spontaneous jamming. \u201cThat kind of thing is very old-school,\u201d Soord says. \u201cIt\u2019s a sort of \u201870s mentality to writing: Put a bunch of guys in a studio, and six weeks later an album comes out.\u201d<\/p>\n

That method stands in stark contrast to the unhurried approach to which Soord had become accustomed. \u201cIt\u2019s very pressured,\u201d he admits. \u201cFor days you\u2019re at absolutely 100% concentration: \u2018I\u2019ve got to do this, and I\u2019ve got to get it right.\u2019\u201d He\u2019s very pleased with the results as showcased on It Leads to This<\/i>, and fans and critics alike tend to agree. \u201cBut it\u2019s intense when you\u2019re not used to it!\u201d he admits.<\/p>\n

Soord is now completely sold on the idea, and says that the group will use a similar approach next time they\u2019re making an album. \u201cAnd we\u2019ll do even more with the other guys in the band \u2013 John [Sykes, bass] and Steve [Kitch, keyboards] \u2013 to get it back to that romantic vision of what a band is supposed to be,\u201d he promises. \u201cWhen you\u2019ve been together on the road like we are now, you become close. And that really helps create the songs. You get a lot when everybody can contribute; the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the methods used to create, develop and complete their albums may have changed over the years, there\u2019s a continuity running through the group\u2019s work. Like many albums from The Pineapple Thief, It Leads to This<\/i> is a concept album. \u201cI think all<\/i> of our albums are, loosely,\u201d Soord says. \u201cThey\u2019re all about where I am. Lyrically there\u2019s a lot of you<\/i> and I<\/i> and us<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n

It Leads to This<\/i> focuses on what\u2019s happening in the world, viewed from a personal perspective and with an eye toward how it impacts individuals and relationships. \u201cAn individual grows older, has children\u2026 your sense of mortality becomes more vivid,\u201d Soord says. He believes that writing from a personal perspective in that manner results in themes that are universal and relatable, qualities that are found thin music throughout the Pineapple Thief\u2019s body of work. \u201cBecause we\u2019re all in the same boat, really. And that\u2019s what I aim to achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n

You may also enjoy my interview with Bruce Soord from waaaay back in 2010<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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