I first heard about The Pineapple Thief three years ago when their vocalist, Bruce Soord, worked with Jonas Renkse (Katatonia frontman) on a collaboration album titled Wisdom of Crows. The album was solid, with the two perfectly combining their joined vocal power into creating a healthy, emotionally bursting record. Also, Bruce played guitar on the Katatonia’s acoustic live album titled Sanctitude, where he excellently fulfilled his role, like he was a part of the band for decades. Now, his main band released a new album dubbed Your Wilderness so let’s take a look at it and discover its qualities.
The first thing you’ll notice is the same, atmospheric, emotional, melodic, melancholic take on the music, something like Katatonia would sound if they decided to ditch their signature gothic/doom rock/metal sound, replacing it with atmo rock in combination with some prog elements.
Tracks often have melancholic themes, revolving around past love, loss, and regret, but instead being filled with cheese, lyrics are more of a philosophic take on the subject(s). Music is mostly slow-paced, one of the main characteristics of atmo rock, slowly guiding you through melancholy fields dotted with thoughts about the past, of times passed, of loves lost, of chances missed.
From time to time (Tear You Up, Take Your Shot) record picks up the pace, guitars and drums decide the album needs a bit of speed, some not so soft riffs appear, just in time to prevent the album being too stale. There are quite a bit of spot-on tunes on this one. In Exile, No Man’s Land, Tear You Up, Take Your Shot, The Final Thing On My Mind are quite a pleasant listens, with others being just too short of crossing the invisible border dividing memories from the void. Oh, I almost forgot about the magnificent clarinet solo on Fend for Yourself, a dreamy addition to already dreamy track. You can say the song managed to cross the invisible border, so we have another standout on this one.
Production is excellent; there're no major faults. Everything sounds tight, well mixed, especially during the songs containing lots of acoustic elements. Your Wilderness could be the ultimate stroll album, for times when you decide to perform an introspection, when past haunts you more than you would want, when thoughts begin spinning around you in circles, when you just need a mediator between the heart and the mind.
The album won’t be listened to frequently, but it’s still a quality one. If loving the sound of Katatonia, melancholic music in general, or atmo rock, Your Wilderness will be one of the top picks of this year. If not, well, just pass this on to somebody you think would appreciate it.
