The Pineapple Thief - Far And Wide [Clear]

Sixteen studio albums in, The Pineapple Thief have decided they are a rock band. That sounds obvious until you hear how they went about it: for Far And Wide, Bruce Soord and company set themselves rules in the studio, including a limit of two guitar parts at any one time, and let the songs stand on what four people can play together. The result is the most direct record of their career, and their first for InsideOut Music.

The lineup is the one that has carried the band onto bigger stages over the past decade: Soord on vocals and guitars, Jon Sykes on bass, Steve Kitch on keyboards and Gavin Harrison on drums. You can hear the road miles. Opener and lead single "New World Order" arrives on moody tones before it starts throwing punches, and "Hold the Ashes," "Scattering Like Flies" and "No Exceptions" keep that balance of weight and restraint, with Harrison's playing as precise and inventive as ever.

None of this costs the band their gift for atmosphere. Far And Wide is still progressive music, still attuned to a strange and troubled world, and Soord describes it as a record about shared ground: an abstract set of feelings about the state of things, delivered in nine songs with real class and nuance.

This edition is pressed on clear 140-gram vinyl and housed in a gatefold jacket, with cover art featuring an abstract sculpture by the late Michael Schoenholtz.