The Pineapple Thief – Nothing But The Truth: Album Review

By Mike Ainscoe on 19th October 2021 • ( Leave a comment )

The Pineapple Thief provide us with another excuse to fill the shelves with another mighty fine product.

Release Date: 22nd October 2021

Label: Kscope

Format: deluxe 4 disc hardback package / Bluray / 2CD / double LP

Well, more of a live document/film from the ultra active The Pineapple Thief. Readers/fans will know the story of their past eighteen months: new album (Versions Of The Truth), postponed tours, Bruce Soord online streams and releases, a TPT online performance (of which this release is the record) and last but not least, the tour resumed with Alex Henry Foster that blew us away on date #2 in Manchester.

Anyone who’s seen the current tour will be pretty familiar with what Versions Of The Truth has to offer in musical terms. The current set worked from the slightly extended version on the soundtrack that includes a couple of extra gems from All The Wars including the back to basics atmospheric rock on Build A World and The Swell from the bonus material on the new album.

And the production works well. Despite , or maybe as a result of the lack of audience, the film reveals a stripped back and interesting perspective. An alternative to the Where We Stood concert film. It’s like a very well planned production rehearsal. Minimal sepia lighting, a circular camera track and the band in eye contact in a similar circular arrangement. A bit different from the traditional live setup and with the likes of TesseracT and their innovative and ambitious Portals production, an awareness of the strength of doing something well remotely. In film terms, they know how to look good in front of the camera.

The impact of Gavin Harrison too has been well documented and this film in particular gives the opportunity to get several views of te master at work behind his kit – naturally making everything seem impossibly simple. Pretty much in the same way that Bruce Soord takes charge with the main vocal whilst chipping away with some pinpoint guitar. As Soord himself has admitted, Harrison has helped revitalise some of the back catalogue, which gets an airing on this release: “Late last year, Gavin was listening to our back catalogue, looking for songs to bring into our new live set. When he heard Wretched Soul he told me how much he liked it and if I minded him reworking it, bringing in his rhythmic and arrangement ideas. In fact there is a short ‘behind the tracks’ documentary included Nothing But The Truth’ where Gavin explains what he did, and why. I loved what he brought to the song, it’s given it a whole new lease of life. It’s also a LOT of fun to play live.”

Evidence that you can never get enough of The Pineapple Thief. A tremendous souvenir that bridges the gap , linking the limits of lockdown and the triumphant return to touring live music in front of a live audience.

Here’s Someone Pull Me Out Of Here from the album/film: