"A melodious blanket that is both comforting and all-encompassing": The Pineapple Thief up the melancholy quotient on Last To Run

British prog rockers The Pineapple Thief still going strong on new EP Last To Run

The Pineapple Thief: Last To Run cover art
(Image: © Kscope)

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If The Pineapple Thief’s fifteenth studio album It Leads To This was an exercise in self-restraint, striking a more concise balance between their prog-rock aspirations and alt.rock sensibilities, then this follow-up EP is proof that none of their creative juices were sacrificed in the process.

More melancholic in execution, the tracks of Last To Run feel like a perfect counterpoint to the more driven energies It Leads To This tapped into, picking up almost perfectly from album closer To Forget.

The Pineapple Thief - 'All Because of Me' Official Video - YouTube The Pineapple Thief - 'All Because of Me' Official Video - YouTube
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Across five tracks, Bruce Soord and co. weave a melodious blanket that is both comforting and all-encompassing with melancholic overtures and gorgeous instrumental passages.

That doesn’t mean Last To Run isn’t without its bold, brash moments, either; The World To Me has breakouts of strident energy befitting prog’s more arena-prone behemoths, while the riffs of closer No Friend Of Mine have an angular choppiness that makes it feel like Shellac as reimagined by Porcupine Tree.

Rich Hobson

Staff writer for Metal Hammer, Rich has never met a feature he didn't fancy, which is just as well when it comes to covering everything rock, punk and metal for both print and online, be it legendary events like Rock In Rio or Clash Of The Titans or seeking out exciting new bands like Nine Treasures, Jinjer and Sleep Token.