DISSOLUTION

The Pineapple Thief find themselves triumphant on their electrifying 2018 art rock achievement 'Dissolution', the band's twelfth studio album, released on Kscope. This exciting British band has been a synonym for quality in the last decade, becoming one of the most respected bands whose music gently crosses over alternative rock and progressive rock in a very contemporary and welcoming fashion, occasionally coming close to the sensibility and aura left by Porcupine Tree the previous decade, allowing a very fine touch of sentimentality to protrude their excellent music, it is 'Dissolution' that might confidently be regarded as the band's best effort so far.

Perhaps one will find the strengths of this record in the band's impressive ability to keep things compact, yet fully expressive in terms of songwriting - the masterful duo of the talents of Bruce Soord and Gavin Harrison graces the sonic portrait of 'Dissolution' with a tender maturity that can be experienced from the very first seconds of the opening track 'Not Naming Any Names'; the strong use of acoustic instruments will go on to mark this album as a very sheltering one. Great songs follow one after another with the melodic 'Try as I Might' coming next, or the cerebrally touching 'Threatening War', a Bruce Soord classic, elevated majestically by the fabulous drumming, the acoustic touch and the soft keyboard soundscapes. The album goes on in the same spirit, giving off the impression that you are immersed in one big continuous piece of music, the coherence of 'Dissolution' is absolutely astonishing; the great production also helps, with the gracious warmth of every nuance of each instrument caressing the listener's ears. It is tracks like 'All That You've Got', 'Far Below', or the grandiose 'White Mist', the 11-minute epic at the end of the record that add up to the unprecedented experience of submerging into the sensitive world that this LP proposes, excellent and flawless from beginning to end.

Certainly one of the highlights of the year and of the decade, this album by The Pineapple Thief is a very melancholic, beautifully-written piece of contemporary art rock, showcasing the talents of a band capable of creating something minimalistic, yet gorgeously warm and welcoming - a really great effort by Bruce Soord and co. that will go down in history as one of the tiny gems of the genre.