The Pineapple Thief – Your Wilderness

Progressive Rock

64%

I’ve been a big prog fan for a good few years; drawn in by the technical wizardry, boundless ambition and the courage of bands to push away from the norm to work towards creating something greater. During my many faceted adventures in prog The Pineapple Thief has always existed in the periphery of the genre. They have lived in a kind of limbo with their music too complex to find it’s way into the mainstream but lacking a lot of the scope and grandeur of their peers. In many ways this album falls yet again into that pitfall. When so many prog bands create albums as an exercise in storytelling, Your Wilderness simply breezes by without many ripples of interest. There’s too much repetition and not enough purpose.

It’s worth noting however that whilst the band may have a fair few bugs still to work out, they have made a marked improvement over many of their previous albums. The musicianship is simply exceptional, thanks in no small part to the appearance of the incredible Gavin Harrison on drums. There are some beautiful moments to be found here, such as the mellow ‘Fend For Yourself’, but it’s as though they are easy to miss unless you are specifically searching for them. Whilst it’s not accessible enough to be called a singles album I feel as though the songs work best as separate entities, and somehow together as an album there’s still something missing that makes it all connect and work towards a bigger picture. It’s a likeable album and a good entry point into the genre but not an essential listen by any means.