After four years of silence, The Pineapple Thief, what an awesome name for a band - although in Dutch (de ananasdief) it sounds rather weird -, finally release a new album and it is called It Leads To This. The album features eight new darkly dexterous tracks, and the sound is still best described as poppy prog rock with complex rhythms; especially drumming of Gavin Harrison is completely out of this world, proving that he is one of the best drummers on this planet at the moment. The vocal performances of Bruce Soord, still sometimes reminding me of Steven Wilson and Tom Yorke, is second to none and his lyrics about real and fictional men in history, reevaluating their pasts are very intense indeed. The opening track Put It Right says it all, as it opens with piano passages and Soord's typical vocals setting the trend for the rest of this, sad but true, rather short album. Now It's Yours is another very dark, sombre, and rather “depressing” song, packed with synthesizers and piano passages, followed by a rather heavy riff packed second part. Rubicon is probably the “heaviest” track of this album as it has a slightly aggressive approach, while the single The Frost is filled with huge riffs, lots of mood swings and again incredible drumming by Harrison. My personal favourites are Now It's Yours and Every Trace Of Us, as the latter features impressive jazzy riffs and a powerful ultra-prog rock instrumental passage, check it out and you will love it for sure. So, is this a great album, yes it definitely is, but you should listen to it a lot to really appreciate it, as it really gets better every time you hear it. So, overall, in fact It Leads To This is brilliant, already one of the prog rock milestones of the year 2024. Last but not least, my cliché advice, play it LOUD and you will experience what an out of this world drummer Gavin Harrison truly is, as he really approaches the superb top-notch level of Neil Peart... Listening tip: Rubicon ****+ Martien Koolen (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
