THE PINEAPPLE THIEF has announced an additional six U.S. shows for the band’s “It Leads to This” North American tour later this year. The U.K. based four-piece has added shows in Florida, Pennsylvania, California and Washington and will be playing songs from its latest album, “It Leads to This”, alongside classics from the back catalog.
Bruce Soord, the frontman and creative force behind THE PINEAPPLE THIEF, commented: “We are now able to announce these final extra shows to complete our North America tour. We are all so happy to be returning. It’s such a special feeling to be able to bring our live show across the Atlantic. We’ll be playing songs from our new album, ‘It Leads To This’, as well as some of the ones we know people know and love from our history, and possibly even a surprise or two. These things don’t come around very often so we’re definitely going to make the most of it.”
Newly announced North American tour dates:
Nov. 16 – Clearwater, FL – Capitol Theatre
Nov. 30 – Pittsburgh, PA – Jergel’s
Dec. 7 – Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom
Dec. 8 – Santa Cruz, CA – The Catalyst
Dec. 9 – San Francisco, CA – The Independent
Dec. 11 – Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre
Tickets go on general sale this Friday, May 17 at 12 p.m. Pacific Time. THE PINEAPPLE THIEF mailing list subscribers are able to access tickets early on Wednesday, May 15 at 12 p.m. Pacific Time using the code PINEAPPLE24.
“It Leads to This” North American tour dates:
Nov. 14 – Atlanta, GA – Terminal West
Nov. 16 – Clearwater, FL – Capitol Theatre (NEW)
Nov. 17 – Orlando, FL – The Plaza Live
Nov. 19 – Charlotte, NC – The Underground
Nov. 21 – Washington, DC – Union Stage
Nov. 22 – Philadelphia, PA – World Cafe Live
Nov. 23 – New York City, NY – Gramercy Theatre
Nov. 24 – Boston, MA – Somerville Theater
Nov. 26 – Quebec City, QC – Palais Montcalm
Nov. 27 – Montreal, QC – Beanfield Theatre
Nov. 29 – Toronto, ON – The Opera House
Nov. 30 – Pittsburgh, PA – Jergel’s (NEW)
Dec. 01 – Chicago, IL – House of Blues – Chicago
Dec. 03 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theater
Dec. 05 – Mexico City, MEX – Auditorio Blackberry
Dec. 07 – Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom (NEW)
Dec. 08 – Santa Cruz, CA – The Catalyst (NEW)
Dec. 09 – San Francisco, CA – The Independent (NEW)
Dec. 11 – Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre (NEW)
“It Leads To This” was released in February.
THE PINEAPPLE THIEF revel in opposing forces. Muscle and fragility. Chaos and precision. Distorted introspection and warm, dreamlike expanse. Conceived in 1999 by Bruce Soord, the progressive quartet underwent a rebirth in 2017 with the arrival of Gavin Harrison (KING CRIMSON, PORCUPINE TREE) on drums. Completed by bassist Jon Sykes and keyboardist Steve Kitch, they’ve honed a lean yet lush, quietly timeless sound that soars on “It Leads To This”.
Soord said about the album: “We worked on these new songs for nearly three years. It was the most intense time I can remember within THE PINEAPPLE THIEF. Personally, I was being pushed well beyond my known limits, which is great from an artistic perspective but also very very challenging from a personal perspective.”
He continued: “Conceptually, ‘It Leads To This’ continues my desire to observe and (try to) make sense of life and the world around me. It’s all there in the lyrics.
“The initial concept for the songs came together very quickly but the final lyrical and musical elements took a huge amount of work to piece together between the four of us, at least to a point where we were all satisfied. After so long in the business, being ‘satisfied’ is constantly being pushed further, constantly redefined. That’s the thing, we just kept pushing…”
Comprising eight fat-free epics — all about five minutes long, mixing rock urgency with delicate atmospherics, pensive keys and captivating melodies — “It Leads To This” finds Soord looking back and fearing for the world his children will inherit. His lyrics also drew from literature: accounts of Ancient Rome, John Williams‘s classic “Stoner” and epistolary “Augustus”. All conveyed through Soord‘s fragile yet penetrative tenor, nodding to storytellers like Nick Drake, Thom Yorke and KATATONIA‘s Jonas Renkse.
In a way, that’s THE PINEAPPLE THIEF all over. Idiosyncratic but relatable. Devastating and life-affirming, in the same breath. Not married to a single genre, just melody served by tones and textures. Music that only the four of them could make.
An album of eight differing masterpieces, “It Leads To This” is perhaps typified by its title track. A melting pot of calm, intriguing melodic beauty, brutally punched with powerful guitars and drums, with the most extraordinarily grand and monumental finale. In its own four and a half minutes of brilliance, it could well be THE PINEAPPLE THIEF in microcosm.
Photo by Tina Korhonen