VARIATIONS ON A DREAM

Quite impressed with their 2008 release "Tightly Unwound", I step backward five years and find this "Variations on A Dream" album. My first reaction to the music is something like Cold Play had been doing. The first track "We Subside" (4:58) sounds similar to Cold Play even though you might find similarities as well with mellow side of Porcupine Tree or Blackfield. The second track "This Will Remain Unspoken" (3:27) reminds me to Porcupine Tree especially during the acoustic guitar rhythm at the intro part of the song. The use of mellotron enriches the music textures. "Vapour Trails" (8:31) has even slower tempo with acoustic guitar serves as main rhythm section augmented by howling guitar and keyboard. Up until this third track I actually start to get bored with the tempo as it moves quite slow and I want "energy", actually. This is then continued with relatively upbeat music in "Run Me Through" (4:43) which the organ / synthesizer as well as the rhythm section reminds me to "abacab" (an album by Genesis). Lucky that the band finally plays something upbeat, even though quite late, otherwise I am totally "bored" waiting for the music to move up. It's quite devastating to me if I keep listening music which sounds so mellow.

"The Bitter Pill" (4:35) has a great piano work, accompanying the vocal. The song is quite straightforward even though it has some great segments where the bass guitar and piano produce excellent sound. "Resident Alien" (4:14) uses dynamic string arrangements at the opening part and it makes great sound and it's different compared to other tracks. The exploration of sounds as combination of string, vibraphones, drums and continued with acoustic guitar is really great. This song is probably like a parade of sounds that result in excellent soundscapes, without vocal. "Sooner or Later" (3:59) brings up the energy with excellent combination of vocal, guitar and low register bass notes that makes the overall music sounds great. Guitar provides soft riffs among segments. "Part zero" (7:28) brings back to acoustic structure followed by long sustain keyboard work. The album concludes with an epic "Remember Us" (16:04) which has great acoustic guitar fills during intro, supported by string section. The double acoustic guitar work with one serving as rhythm section and the other as main melody is a great combination.

You must have patience in dealing with the music of Pineapple Thief because most of their compositions are mellow in nature, and subsequently might create a "boring" state. But if you get used to the music of RPWL, Cold Play, you might be enjoying this album. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW