THE PINEAPPLE THIEF, Versions of the Truth (Kscope, 2020)

PERSONNEL

• Bruce Soord, Vocals and Guitar
• Steve Skitch, Keyboards
• Jon Sykes, Bass & Backing vocals
• Gavin Harrison, Drums and Percussion

TRACK LISTING

1. Versions of the Truth
2. Break it All
3. Demons
4. Driving Like Maniacs
5. Leave Me Be
6. Too Many Voices
7. Our Mire
8. Out of Line
9. Stop Making Sense
10. The Game

https://youtu.be/O32DMyXN-mI

At times, it’s hard to separate Bruce Soord and The Pineapple Thief from Steven Wilson and Porcupine Tree. They are nearly the same side of the same musical coin.

Both are Englishmen making pop-tinged rock music with Progressive overtones. Both find their best lyrical content based in melancholy. Both are skilled at making their music heavy without being overwhelming. And both saw their music taken to the next level thanks to the drumming of Gavin Harrison.

And while it would be inaccurate to say Soord now has the upper hand because Porcupine Tree no longer exists (Wilson is doing just fine as a solo artist, thank you very much), there can be no denying that the chemistry derived from band consistency is doing wonders for The Pineapple Thief. Case in point: their latest effort, Versions of the Truth (Kscope, out now).

The album basically picks up where the band’s previous effort, Dissolution, left off. The compositions (co-written by Soord and Harrison) take an already fine chemistry and actually manage to take it deeper. Songs of anguish and pathos, both internal and external, are brought to life by music that can be called heavy without being deemed hard.

Songs like the title track, “Demons,” and “The Game” don’t attack sharply as much as gradually flow over the listener until we are bathed in Soord’s voice, bass and Harrison’s acoustic and electronic percussion. Unlike Porcupine Tree, metal never fully enters the equation, and that’s perfectly fine.

Soord and company have brought forth another highly relatable, fully comprehensible, and richly musical experience worthy of multiple listens. Despite any desire to compare them with others, the Pineapple Thief is very much a band unto itself, beholden to no one.

#cirdecsongs

You can follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (cirdecsongs) My book, I Can’t Be the Only One Hearing This: A Lifetime of Music Through Eclectic Ears, is available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other fine book dealers. I’m currently at work on my next book, The Wizard of WOO: The Life and Music of Bernie Worrell.