VERSIONS OF THE TRUTH

"Versions of the Truth" is one of the most anticipated releases of this very interesting year. Still not in the top, but unlike 2018, they remembered the atmosphere and complexity. In fact, to clarify the situation with the new The Pineapple Thief CD "Versions of the Truth", it should be emphasized that the songs are increasingly reminiscent of Bruce Soord's solo work + The Pineapple Thief. Bruce's talents are still growing from year to year, both in terms of playing and in terms of working with sound. The fresh disc sounds juicy and surprisingly rich, which speaks of the band's final exit from the "indie monsters". Each piece is accompanied by powerful visuals worthy of the best Netflix tradition - although in this case it's just a metaphor. The songs are structured to create a halo of darkness, hidden fears, harassment and obsessions. And, as always, "heavy" compositions are complemented by light, melodic ones. Soord's ideas as a conceptualist are also gaining ambitious momentum. The album came out in one piece and the main idea is that the truth is currently absent, there are only versions of it. Each track is a separate version. Despite the venerable age of the group, the melodies still surprise with sudden explosive guitar inserts and abrupt transitions, albeit with an eye on themselves. Nothing is getting younger, but the group realizing this, decided to go from the other side, giving the world a lot of dark, deep and beautiful tracks, virtually eliminating any hint of "progressiveness". Now it looks more like a very smart and atmospheric "pop-rock", in which there is nothing superfluous. Attention should be paid to two tracks from the album.

"Break It All" is a characteristic heavy "locomotive" of the group, gloomy, beautiful, but not rushing at top speed, as before (which is not bad, but for me personally). Interesting guitar distortions, whipping up the atmosphere, catching high and emotional Bruce's vocals and beautiful lyrics ... True, all this was before, that's why it became the hallmark of the group. And the most important pearl is the ballad "Demons", which the musicians released as a single for the album. It tells the story of a person's obsession with the desire to get what does not belong to him. An attentive fan of the group should pay attention to the incredibly beautiful final part of the composition, permeated with a quiet and high-pitched guitar sound, against the background of which the phrase "Cos I've got demons. Yeah you should know. You put them in me. And I will not let them go" is repeated with regret and pain. The idea of obsession as a cause of disasters, crises, wars and violence - expressed in an incredibly sublime and mournful musical moment. An era without truth, where a freed demon can be in each of us. This is our dark and cruel era. All other compositions, as they say, are "at the proper level" and correspond to the spirit of "end of times".

The hard part for me in this whole story is none other than Gavin Harrison. It looks like the seasoned combat veteran Porcupine Tree has finally gotten completely tired and started to sound like your average "second-rate" drummer. Realization of this fact is extremely painful for me.

Throughout the entire album, not a single spectacular, powerful trademark characteristic of the previous records, which were richly decorated with his parts. He became like a tired pale shadow of himself, but, Thank God, his sluggish drums are correctly cut by the strong sound of the rest of the instruments and vocals. In any case, the disc demonstrates the creative death of one of the most (if not the most) first-rate drummers of our time. Though perhaps Bruce Soord's growing creative ambitions did exactly what was needed. Gavin is a prof and may have just been told "Play from here and up here", and he just did as he was told. And the next thing: for the second release in a row it comes out with an

absolutely boring booklet. Lyrics of songs are embossed on thick gray paper in an uninteresting font - that's all. This is a reason for authors to think seriously.

An interesting and a bit sad fact: the group, on the way to becoming superstars, alas, is transformed into an artifact that is interesting only to the MOST devoted fans of the group.

Because, despite the growing experience of musicians, they still use the old formula just like 10 years ago.

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