YOUR WILDERNESS

UK threesome THE PINEAPPLE THIEF has been a feature in the UK rock and progressive rock scene since the tail end of the 1990's. releasing new albums at a steady pace and maintaining a fairly well established fan-base worldwide as well from what I understand. "Your Wilderness" is their most recent studio album, and was released through renowned UK label Kscope in August 2016.

Those with an interest in the more indie rock oriented takes on the progressive rock genre should find much to love on this latest studio production by The Pineapple Thief. This isn't the kind of album that use overly dramatic effects or pompous arrangements to create moods and atmospheres, but rather opts to explore landscapes of a more delicate and melancholic general nature. Perhaps more of a mainstream oriented affair if regarded in a more superficial manner, but with liberal amounts of subtle details that makes the end result a rather more sophisticated venture than you'll initially get the impression of.

Just about all the songs have something of an ebb and flow structure to them, and sparse, delicate recurring sequences is something of a red thread throughout. This approach is explored in many different manners however, but just about all the compositions opens with a gentle touch. Dampened instruments or sparse instrument arrangements paired off with the emotionally laden, frail lead vocals of Bruce Soord is a recurring feature, with songs then either slowly building up towards a more intense expression or a song alternating between more stark, contrasting gentle and fleshed out arrangements the main variations encountered.

The vocals often gives these songs, especially in the gentler passages, something of a Radiohead vibe, while the more sophisticated, multiple layered ones gives the compositions something more of a Porcupine Tree vibe. On this occasion there are tracks that heads off into other directions as well, the more vibrant landscapes explored in Tear You Up can be mentioned, as well as the subtly intense, slightly Tom Petty flavored piece Take Your Shot. Some nice, softly jazz-tinged details are included in the calmer, darker toned Fend For Yourself as well, further expanding the total scope of this album.

At the end of the day this album is dominated by the gentler, melancholic and fragile moods however, with frail, emotionally haunting landscapes and soft melancholic movements the key characteristic traits defining this production. Besides existing fans, I'd suggest that those fond of the calmer parts of the Radiohead back catalogue and those fascinated by the gentler parts of Porcupine Tree's material would be something of an ideal crowd for this CD.