TIGHTLY UNWOUND

Pineapple Thieves have struck again. While "What We Have Sawn" (late 2007) is just taking its first steps, a new album entitled "Tightly Unwound" is released on May 19, 2008. In the meantime, the Bruce Soord gang changed its label by moving to K-Scope, which also promotes Steven Wilson and his side-projects (No-Man, Porcupine Tree).

2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 ... 4 years for 4 albums. Critics were hard to Little Man (2006), mostly considered as a conventional pop album. "What We Have Sawn", was an extraordinarily psychedelic album. In such a short period, where will we place "Tightly Unwound"? We could fear too much PT will kill PT. On a short term, the band could fall into the simplicity and perform a tasteless and insipid pop music.

From the first chords, the first layers of keyboard, the first words, you easily recognize the "Pineapple Thief trademark. Acoustic guitars make the tone of a pop album like Little Man, while the electric recalls the psychedelic atmosphere of What We Have Sawn. The Brits try to come across the balance between the psychedelic sound reserved for a certain category of people, and the pop sound open to a wider palette.

"My Debt To You" opens the album in an epic way. We are dealing with a melancholic, poetic song, embroidered with emotional lyrics. It is already the favorite song of the album. It is straightforward and efficient. In the same approach, "Tightly Wound" is seducing with its melodic break where only the voice and guitar carry on the piece, ending interestingly with all instruments. Musically speaking, they are getting close to Radiohead or Porcupine Tree pop songs.

You do not like pop? Well then, listen to "Too Much To Lose", which represents a quarter of the album. More progressive, sustained, complex and repetitive, this piece suggests a more strived and constructed facet in PT music. The piece is darker and simply different from what we have heard before. Perhaps it is a remainder of the WWHS period?

It is necessary to point a damper on this album. Let's take (quite randomly ...) "Different World", a 10- minute piece. One could legitimately expect that the group gets carried away and rushes into pace changes, but... nothing. Not even a surprise. This is where the fears of the early meet. At the frantic pace at which they compose, musicians seem short of ideas and unnecessarily extend the song.

What is the Conclusion? Should they take a little rest and let their ideas grow up one or two more years? I sincerely believe. This album reached the limit without going beyond. It is successful, engaging and sensitive. Our 5 English look with style for a compromise between pop and psychedelic music dear to their hearts...