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Given Bruce Soord’s position as founder and bandleader of The Pineapple Thief, the information that he was making a solo report raised eyebrows aplenty in 2015. TPT was his child, and he’d recorded their three earliest releases by himself anyway.
He made the self-titled album to fill a spot in Kscope’s schedule. It’s testomony to the standard of the music that, regardless of his band’s ongoing success, he’s subsequently launched two extra studio information and a stay album of solo materials.
Accessible on vinyl for the primary time in a pearl blue urgent and with a half-speed remastering at Abbey Highway, this Tenth-anniversary version provides an awesome alternative to develop into acquainted or reacquainted with the music.
The sound is sparser and airier than The Pineapple Thief’s prog-meets-alt rock aesthetic. Soord has all the time displayed a proclivity for introspection in his lyrics, and the subdued vibe of the music supplies the perfect backdrop for burrowing deep into his feelings and ideas.
It begins with Black Smoke and a lonely, mournful piano ostinato, over which he sings about his residence city of Yeovil and a craving for connection, establishing his central themes of place, time and reflection.
His lyrics contact on desires left unfulfilled and the passing of youth and time bringing extra regrets than knowledge
The understated washes of guitar on Buried Right here recommend 90s-era Radiohead, a way strengthened by the excessive register of Soord’s voice, whereas the refined construct in depth is elegantly executed. There’s extra of Thom Yorke’s signature ennui in A Thousand Daggers – however Soord throws in some surprising twists and turns.
The Odds provides a touch of funkiness, with a slinky solo minimize in; and though Willow Tree begins in a downbeat, inward-looking temper, it modifications form with the introduction of horn traces and a cajón, including a Spanish flamenco flavour.
Born In Delusion finds Soord at his most downbeat, singing about being ‘crushed in a house full of affection.’ His lyrics often contact on themes of life’s disappointments, desires left unfulfilled, and the passing of youth and time bringing extra regrets than knowledge.
All of that raises the query: is that this a feel-bad expertise, with Soord wallowing in a mire of distress? Whereas the songwriting favours minor keys and the model is sombre, there’s one thing releasing about giving voice to those emotions – solely by articulating them can they be launched.
It’s a disgrace there aren’t any bonus tracks on the reissue, however the album serves as reminder that there are sides of his creativity that don’t match beneath The Pineapple Thief’s umbrella however they deserve – no, demand – an outlet.
Bruce Soord is on sale now by way of Kscope.
