The Pineapple Thief

Bridging the gap between the classic, theatrical psychedelic bands of the 1970s and Radiohead's more swirling, ambient moments, The Pineapple Thief earned cult status as a prominent progressive rock band of the early 2000s. Frontman Bruce Soord launched the group in Somerset, England, where he recorded the 1999 debut album Abducting the Unicorn in his home studio. The band was initially intended to be a solo side project, but turned into a larger ensemble when bass player Jon Sykes, drummer Keith Harrison, and guitarist Wayne Higgins joined in 2002. The albums Variations On a Dream and 10 Stories Down sought to shake off the capes and tired cliches associated with prog rock.

After the release of 2008's Tightly Unwound, the 2010 album Someone Here Is Missing proved to be a critical high point, full of cinematic grandness and brewing intensity. By working with the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, The Pineapple Thief's sound became even more grandiose on 2012's All the Wars, and Soord went on to form Wisdom of Crowds with Katatonia's Jonas Renkse before releasing the tenth Pineapple Thief album, Magnolia, in 2014. Line-up changes saw guitarist Darran Charles and King Crimson drummer Gavin Harrison joining the group, but The Pineapple Thief remained full of dramatic shifts and ambitious, sonic caucophony on 2018's Dissolution, 2020's Versions of the Truth, 2022's Give It Back, and 2024's It Leads to This.