Leading The Way With BRUCE SOORD From THE PINEAPPLE THIEF

Interview by Kris Peters
After sixteen albums and rising, you would think Bruce Soord from
The Pineapple Thief would know pretty well what he is doing with
himself and the band musically.
Essentially a rock outfit, The Pineapple Thief have released a
consistently steady stream of albums, amassing a staunch, loyal and
growing fan base with each one.
Their place in rock history is assured, but despite having done the
hard yards already, Soord refuses to rest on his laurels.
As a songwriter he can lay claim to being amongst the best in the
business but with the band's recent album It Leads To This, Soord
has managed to tap into a delicate nuance of material and compile
it in such a way that what would generally be a depressive and
seemingly hopeless landscape has been transformed into a bright and
optimistic take of life itself.
The basic premise for It Leads To This has Soord reflecting on the
world and fearing for the life his children will inherit, but at
its core is an introspective look at life and each of our roles
within it.
Soord sat down for a chat with HEAVY to tell us more.
"It's been good," he enthused at the early reception for the album.
"You know what it's like, you can't hide from the reaction these
days on social media, so you get to see everything. It's been
really positive, thank goodness for that, because the internet and
online can be quite brutal sometimes."
We ask Soord to dive deeper into the concept of the album.
"I've always written about things that…," he measured. "…I wake up
in the morning and how I feel. You put the news on and look out the
window - I live in a small town in the South West of England that
has its fair share of problems like drugs and alcohol - so you look
out the window, and you see it. You see these lost souls walking
around. You read the news, and it's just getting worse and worse
then you look at the kids and my kids are a lens to the world. I
think, 'oh shit, what's going on?' and then you pick up a guitar
and that's the inspiration. But the thing about it is, even though
it's all dark thoughts about the future and what the Hell are my
kids going to inherit, it's still positive. There's still a
positive message. It's not all doom and gloom."
In the full interview, Bruce talks more about the idea behind the
album, how he puts a positive spin on it, if the personal nature of
the subject matter made it a difficult album to write, runs us
through each track individually and the message behind it, talks
touring plans and more.