Bruce Soord has kept himself busy during the past 18 months.
Since last September’s studio set Versions Of The Truth, the Pineapple Thief frontman made up for the tour ban by promoting it with a string of acoustic shows livestreamed to fans, the last of which saw the light as December’s The Soord Sessions Volume 4 LP. Then they finally reconvened on stage in April this year, filming an on-demand live set.
You may wish to experience this more fully on the DVD and Blu-ray versions (attention, beat-spotters: there’s a ‘Gavin Harrison drumcam’ option), but as it stands, this audio version is captivating enough.
The moody Versions Of The Truth and In Exile are lent an extra sense of unease here that really draws you in. A strangely plodding Demons is less successful, but a slow-burning Threatening War explodes into life, and later, emotive stabs at 2004’s Wretched Soul and 2014’s Someone Pull Me Out will be welcomed by longtime Pineapple-heads