Published: August 7, 2020
It's an album that holds up a mirror to the chaos and conflict of 21st-century life and tries to make sense of the distorted reflections that gaze back at it.
The Pineapple Thief have shared their new single, 'Versions Of The Truth', the title track and latest single to be taken from their upcoming album, out on September 4th via Kscope.
A sweeping and expansive track which builds into climactic, explosive crescendos and pensive choruses, the single arrives alongside a similarly sparse and atmospheric video. Truly beautiful and thought-provoking, it's a video of rare beauty and intelligence, produced by Blacktide Phonic/Visual.
"This track probably doesn't need too much in the way of explanation," says frontman Bruce Soord. "I came up with the title when we started writing the record back in October 2018. At the time, the world around me seemed to be losing respect for 'the truth'. Any version of the truth, it seemed, was fair game as long as it got you what or where you wanted. I never expected the song to be even more pertinent today.
"The video however tackles very personal distortions of life and truth. George Laycock, who produced and directed the video, found some beautiful locations down here on the Dorset Jurassic coast, together with some local 'swimmers'. Luckily, as George lives just 40 minutes away from me, we were able to shoot together again, even in today's strange climate. The rivers, the blue seas and virgin blue skies unblemished by vapour trails look otherworldly. 'It's not how I remember it....'"
Throughout the album, The Pineapple Thief explore vast swathes of sonic territory, with minimalist passages building to explosive crescendos and instrumentals which blend disparate elements into flowing expressionism to create an immersive dichotomy.
It's an album that holds up a mirror to the chaos and conflict of 21st-century life and tries to make sense of the distorted reflections that gaze back at it. A blurring between the real and the perceived, between meaning and intent. The title says it all: this is the soundtrack for a post-truth world.
Produced by the four members of the band – vocalist Bruce Soord, keyboardist Steve Kitch, bassist Jon Sykes and drummer Gavin Harrison – Versions Of The Truth marries a stellar musical breadth to a spectrum of emotions that run from anger and confusion to sadness and regret and even glimmers of hope. In places, the album is starkly autobiographical. In others, it confronts the chaos of modern life head-on.
What has emerged stands as The Pineapple Thief's finest album yet. It takes the creative and commercial triumphs of their last two albums, 2016's breakthrough Your Wilderness and its follow-up Dissolution, and magnifies them. Musically bold and lyrically thought-provoking, this is the sound of a band determined to push themselves forward.
VERSIONS OF THE TRUTH TRACK LISTING
Versions Of The Truth
Break It All
Demons
Driving Like Maniacs
Leave Me Be
Too Many Voices
Our Mire
Out Of Line
Stop Making Sense
The Game
Versions Of The Truth will be released on CD, LP incl. various colours, digitally, Blu Ray disc w/ bonus track plus as a limited edition deluxe hardback book 4 disc version and is available to pre-order
Due to the current Covid-19 virus situation the band's planned headline tour for Autumn 2020 has been rescheduled for 2021. All tickets for the 2020 dates will be valid for the new dates. For refunds please check with point of sale.
Photo Credit: Diana Seifert
