"Last To Run": The Pineapple Thief show their class, again

     Following February's classy It Leads to This, The Pineapple Thief have returned with companion EP. This is more than just a roundup of the songs that didn't make it onto their 15th album - these songs have been saved from the cutting room floor and reprised into superlative slices of contemporary prog rock befitting the band's ever-rising stock.

All Because Of Me comes flying out the trap, Bruce Soord's driving guitars and engaging vocals playing off Gavin Harrison's watertight drum grooves. Punctuated by a grandiose chorus, Harrison then takes off the brakes beneath a lavish, squealing slide guitar solo. 

Last To Run is the most expansive track here, offering mischievously crooked rhythms one minute and smooth ambience the next, while No Friend Of Mine toys with light and shade via intricate lulls and gritted guitars. That Election Day slides by says more about the quality of the rest of the EP than it does the song itself.

Since Gavin Harrison joined for 2016's Your Wilderness, The Pineapple Thief have proved tirelessly inventive outfit, deftly balancing their complexity with alt rock accessibility. Last To Run continues that momentum.