The Pineapple Thief
I’m a little ashamed to admit I’ve thoroughly slept on The Pineapple Thief. I’m a sucker for music which sits at the proggy end of the spectrum, but I also think Gavin Harrison is one of the greatest drummers on the scene right now.
Harrison joined The Pineapple Thief in 2017, so I should have been all over them. I’m not sure what happened, but I’m here now.
PT
It seems like a strange coincidence that The Pineapple Thief shares its initials with Harrison’s other band, Porcupine Tree. However, the similarities don’t stop there. Bruce Soord’s vocal delivery is very, very Steven Wilson. Musically it isn’t a world away either.
If you enjoyed In Absentia or Deadwing in particular, I think you will enjoy what The Pineapple Thief are offering here.
Throughout you’ll find a pleasant mix of choruses you can sing along to, with the rhythmic chops you’ll have come to expect from anything featuring such an impressive drummer.
I’ve seen people compare TPE to Radiohead, but I don’t quite agree with that. I can appreciate that Radiohead has its fans, but they largely passed me by when they were at their peak.
They are a band I should probably go back to with these middle-aged ears, but they have always come across as oppressively maudlin and claustrophobic. It Leads to This is comparatively airy and light, with Harrison’s chops buying time for the rest of the band to breathe.
There are many sections spread across the album where the drums are almost the centre of attention –not in the dreaded drum solo sense, but as a pulse to carry the light instrumentation and long notes.
The drums often get buried in the mix with rock and metal, but I can place every cymbal and tom that Harrison lays a stick to here. It is actually a wonderful headphone experience.
A sit-back listening experience
It Leads to This is almost entirely free of rough edges. I’m not going to say it is background music, but it is the sort of album that doesn’t leave you reaching for the skip button when that one song comes along. It is the sort of record you can just put on, sit down and blow through without being overly challenged or irritated.
It also comes in at around 40 minutes from start to finish and doesn’t outstay its welcome. I love my technical death metal as much as the next guy, but sometimes you need something calming and easier on the ears.
I’ve listened to it straight through three times and then started on Nothing But the Truth from 2021. I think they’re going to keep me busy for a little while.
