English proggers The Pineapple Thief supplement their successful 2024 album, It Leads To This with five more sparkling tracks from the same sessions.

Release Date:  15th November 2024

Label: Kscope

Formats: CD / Vinyl / Download

A SUCCESSFUL 2024

2024 is turning out to be a busy – and successful – year for West Country proggers The Pineapple Thief.  A band well represented over the years on our pages, earlier this year, the band’s 16^th album, It Leads To This, received high acclaim that was cemented by chart success and, in the next few days, they’ll be setting off on their highly-anticipated North American tour – a jaunt that will take in shows in 19 cities across the USA, Canada and Mexico. 

And, as if by way of a farewell gift, The Pineapple Thief are leaving us with Last to Run, an EP that features five tracks recorded during the It Leads to This sessions.  The songs might not have made the cut first time around but don’t let that put you off – there are some sparkling gems here.  Frontman and principal songwriter Bruce Soord elaborates: “We had some difficult decisions to make when deciding on the final track listing for It Leads to This.  The songs on this EP are based on songs and ideas from those sessions but they have since evolved way beyond what we would have imagined at the time.  We are delighted with the result – it really seems to capture a different mood and sound.”

YEOVIL BOYS

Formed in Yeovil, Somerset in 1999, initially as an outlet for founding member Soord’s ideas and compositions and they released their debut album, Abducting The Unicorn, later that year.  It Leads to This was the band’s 16^th album; Soord (vocals, guitar and keyboards) and bassist Jon Sykes have been ever present throughout the band’s life, with keyboardist Steve Kitch jumping aboard in 2005.  Drummer Gavin Harrison is the new(est) member – he joined Pineapple Thief in 2017 – and, together, the chaps make a sound that recalls the mid-1970s heyday of British prog rock, with a particularly grateful nod being cast in the direction of Wishbone Ash.

Opening track, all Because Of Me, simmers gently around a nice, solid, funky rhythm and a choppy drumbeat.  A bigger sound breaks through for the “Here we are, we gotta go – it’s all because of me” chorus and the overall impact is a song that sits just on the right side of the fence that divides prog from pomp.

THE CENTREPIECE

The engaging Last To Run is, without doubt, the centrepiece of this short collection.  It’s a slice of authentic 70s prog, awash with echoes of Fruupp, Rush and – yes – Wishbone Ash.  Bruce’s vocals are intimate and Jon and Gavin combine nicely on bass and drums.  It’s a tightly-controlled affair, even when Bruce’s howling guitar kicks in and the echo-y fadeout is atmospheric and absorbing.

With lyrics like “Awoke this November day – all hope has faded away right now” and “It will all be over soon,” it’s easy to assume that, with Election Day, Bruce is referring to the imminent (at the time of writing) US election; let’s hope that when the band touch down in Atlanta on 14/11 to start their tour, they are greeted by a nation celebrating the right result…  The Wishbone Ash comparisons are at their strongest here, on a contemplative song with a few satisfying metal flourishes and some magnificent doom-laden guitar licks.

A SHOWCASE

Steve Kitch’s keyboards are right there, upfront alongside Bruce’s chiming guitar on The World To Me, yet another song with Wishbone overtones.  Gavin’s drumbeat shifts effortlessly between shuffle and high-power, as the situation merits, before things turn almost punky for closing track, No Friend Of Mine.  Bruce’s chugging, fuzzy guitar provides the drive as Steve drops the prog anchor with organ and synth licks that are straight out of the Keith Emerson songbook.

Last To Run has been described as “A showcase for [The Pineapple Thief’s] unique blend of progressive rock and introspective lyricism.”  That’s a fair assessment.  I’d also add that it’s a collection that will appeal to the many amongst us with roots in the seventies and heads in the here and now.

Watch the official video to All Because Of Me – the EP’s opening track – here:

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