Pineapple Thief, The: Someone Here Is Missing

It is a testament to the song writing and performances on Someone Here Is Missing that it took me to go back and listen to The Pineapple Thief's last album, 2008's Tightly Unwound, to really appreciate the change in focus this new album houses. The reason that the step change in sound isn't as obvious as it could and in lesser skilled hands would be, is that the harder edged progressive approach on this release come over as a completely natural next move for Bruce Soord and his bandmates.

Many saw Tightly Unwound as an unashamed homage to all things Radiohead, however if you lived with the disc for quite some time, then the blend of H era Marillion, the less aggressive moments of Porcupine Tree, a very slight sprinkle of Floyd and yes a huge dollop of Thom Yorke and the boys, became a hugely rewarding album that had enough character of its own to withstand comparisons to any of those bands mentioned above. None of those reference points have been erased from TPT's vision for this album, however a more apt description this time round would be a head on collision between Porcupine Tree and Muse that resulted in the majority of the pomposity and over ambition often perpetrated by both those acts, being crushed out of site. What that leaves The Pineapple Thief with is a heavier riff based attack that is still able to show a more fragile and vulnerable side that creates a mixture of anthemic blasts and poignant, emotion stirring introspections. The natural timbre of Soord's voice straddles those two styles perfectly, with his simple delivery reigning in the more excessive moments, while elevating the simple arrangements of the restrained passages.

The spacey keyboards and hopping drum beat of opener "Nothing At Best" is a wonderfully off kilter beginning to the disc, with the interplay between all the instruments making for a marvellously accessible, yet rewardingly complex beginning to an album that is continually able to ease from mood to mood, without missing a beat. "Wake Up the Dead" sees the first real foray into Muse territory with a sparse processed drum beat allowing Soord's voice to gently sooth and seduce before a stomping, yet considered pulse of guitars weaves a hypnotic spell and almost without even noticing, the intensity levels are turned right up to max to close the song out. Already the consistently altering moods and visions are delivering, not only some excellent songs, but ones that have genuine chart bothering potential, with the short acoustic strum and synth strings of "The State We're In" being another perfect example.

"Preparation For Meltdown" is a wonderful exercise in the use of how to use dynamics in a song, with the down beat quiet sections being a perfect balance against the frantic guitar explosions and cymbal smashes that punctuate the sombreness. It is this ability to introduce light and shade through changing themes and ideas, while keeping all the music perfectly in synch with the altering passages that ease their way in and out of the songs, that makes Someone Here Is Missing such a joy. A stronger nod to TPT's past is evident in the Radiohead melancholy of "Barely Breathing", however what is pleasing to note that at this stage in the band's career is that this song may nod to Radiohead, however it really only could be The Pineapple Thief. That is something that is true of all the reference points you hear across this album. Whether it is Muse, Porcupine Tree or at times In Absenthia that could be used to describe these songs, what The Pineapple Thief have done is to reshape those influences into something that is unmistakably all their own. "Show A Little Love" once more highlights the great interplay between Soord's guitar and Steve Kitch's keyboards, where those keys compliment the ever changing guitar line perfectly. The riff housed in this track is one of the best on the disc and as it really fires into being, the stubborn refusal for the catchy as hell riff to repeat is frustratingly brilliant. Special mention also needs to go to the marvellous rhythm section of bassist John Sykes and drummer Keith Harrison who shine throughout the whole album, but are especially bright on this song.

The title track is cinematic in its scope, with swooping swirling strings making for a richly dense feel that creates real tension and release and once more the tremendous pace and poise of the album really comes to the fore. Just when you thought that things really couldn't get any better, the two tracks that close the disc raise the standard even further. "3000 Days" combines all the heavier traits that have surfaced throughout the rest of the songs into one frenzied, building cacophony, before the marvellous epic "So We Row" encapsulates the whole disc into one song. Robust riffs, stabbing keyboards, frayed raw emotions, wonderful vocal arrangements and altering time signatures combine into a tremendous song that the whole album seems to have been building towards.

The excellently packaged limited edition digi-book (with artwork from Storm Thorgesen) also contains two excellent bonus tracks in the shape of "Long Time Walking" which is worth the price of the disc on its own and the acoustic reworking of album opener "Nothing At Best", which with the drums and bombast stripped out almost sounds like an completely different song.

Teaming up with K-Scope for the release of the excellent Tightly Unwound brought The Pineapple Thief to the notice of what had been, up until that point a largely disinterested prog audience, Someone Here Is Missing should see the band go one step further and rival Muse and Porcupine Tree for attention with the prog and mainstream masses. This is a serious contender for album of the year - don't miss out, it really is that good.

Track Listing
1. Nothing at Best
2. Wake Up The Dead
3. The State We're In
4. Preparation For Meltdown
5. Barely Breathing
6. Show A Little Love
7. Someone Here Is Missing
8. 3000 Days
9. So We Row
10. Long Time Walking
11. Nothing at Best (Acoustic Version)

Added: November 16th 2010
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: The Pineaaple Thief Official Web Site
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Language: english

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