BRUCE SOORD

"The Secrets I Know" the short opener opens with atmosphere that builds as acoustic guitar joins in then vocals. A beautiful song and we get some piano and samples late. "Our Gravest Threat Apart" sounds like it could have been on "Versions Of The Truth" with that urgent rhythm and vocals. There's a sample of an unknown guy singing out in the street at one point. "You Hear The Voices" opens with atmosphere and distant sirens before a beat with acoustic guitar and piano takes over. It's more intense a minute later with vocals. Great sound here, best on the album. The closer "One Day I Will Leave You" rounds out my top four. Again the brilliant lyrics but how about that spacey opener with acoustic guitar. It settles when the vocals arrive.

I just can't pull the trigger on that fourth star in good conscience despite being a huge fan.

Stylistically it sounds more or less like you´d expect it to sound considering the two artists involved. The instrumental part of the music is electronic/ambient melancholic rock, while Jonas Renkse delivers emotive and melancholic clean vocals on top. He brances out a bit more than what he usually does while singing for Katatonia, but at the end of the day it´s unmistakably the sound of him singing. The arrangements are for the most part tasteful and relatively accesible, but it´s not necessarily instantly catchy music. Some tracks like "Frozen North" and the title track feature strong hooks, but with others you´ll have to work a little more to discover the catchy moments. Most tracks are relatively mellow and ambient in nature, but there are a couple of more hard rocking moments featured on the album too. Examples of that are the Depeche Mode influenced "Radio Star" and "Flows Through You". While "Frozen North" is predominantly a mellow melancholic track there´s also a quite dark and metal oriented section on that track.

The musicianship is on a high level throughout. Renkse is skilled and possesses a distinct sounding voice and Bruce Soord is obviously a clever composer and arranger. The only issue I have with "Wisdom of Crowds" is that the band have opted to use drum programming instead of hiring a real human drummer, because the artificial drum sound does not necessarily suit the otherwise warm and organic sounding music that well. It´s not a major issue, but to my ears more organic sounding drums could have elevated the music to even greater heights. When that is said, there are parts of the album where the programmed drums fit pretty well.

"Wisdom of Crowds" features a detailed and clear sounding production, which suits the music well, so all in all it´s a high quality release and a successful collaborative effort by the two artists. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

I understand that Pineapple Thief, at least at the onset, was something of a solo project for Soord, and I guess it is more or less reasonable to assume that the need for a solo album at this point is due to this venture now having solidified into a more regular band venture. From what I can tell the material on this solo album is also of a kind that probably wouldn't be a natural fit for Pineapple Thief at this point, at least not without being developed a bit further. The general nature of the moods and atmospheres explored are fairly similar, but the material on this album is, by and large, of a more delicate nature.

Many compositions comes across as creations that at their core can be described as belonging to the singer/songwriter tradition. The acoustic guitar and the lead vocals being the main and fairly often sole components establishing the core foundation, and in the case of opening track Black Smoke the piano taking the role of the acoustic guitar. And while this core foundation is expanded upon, albeit often in a rather unobtrusive manner, the vocals and use of vocal harmonies is the dominant aspect of all the songs here. Soord has a a well controlled voice, and his main strength is to add emotional impact to the material, which he does with elegance and sophistication throughout.

When that is said, this isn't an album that revolves solely around the melancholic, somewhat introspective dimensions you tend to encounter when you have the singer/songwriter tradition paired of with emotional laden lead vocals. The most impressive piece here, The Odds, is more of an up tempo, invigorating experience, with pop song sensibilities and a playful, funk-tinged aspect to some of the key recurring guitar parts. And towards the end both Familiar Patterns and Leaves Leave Me plays around with cinematic and orchestral inspired details, some clever crescendo build-ups and the inclusion of textured instrument deliveries adding something of a post-rock sheen to these tracks. But also on other compositions certain details are added in to extend the scope and increase the depth of the end user experience, that a song is a singer/songwriter creation at heart doesn't mean that this core cannot be expanded.

At the end of the day this is more of a low key, emotional and dampened experience than a Pineapple Thief album however. And not one that comes across as being a collection of leftovers either, the songs are engaging in their own right and are well developed and performed too. Less intense and less dramatic than what fans of Pineapple Thief might be accustomed to, but elegant creations with a melancholic, emotional feel to them that should still come across as familiar, especially due to Soord's vocals. Those fond of moods and atmospheres of that very nature, and with a certain affection for material that fairly often touch base with a singer/songwriter tradition, should take note of this CD.