Like some of their elders, Pineapple Thief are a progressive rock band that have decided, with their new album Magnolia, to reduce the length of their songs. For the combo’s singer/guitarist, Bruce Soord (who’s also recently distinguished himself alongside Katatonia’s Jonas Renkse in Wisdom Of Crowds), this is not so much about changing styles as it is about questioning the band’s music. The songs are shorter, but that doesn’t mean they’re less rich, and the album as a whole is no less progressive. Soord even admits that some of the band’s older compositions could have done with a little more concision. Could this be a sign of wisdom and maturity in a genre that’s known for stretching out songs forever?

In a way, this debate is quite close to the one Danko Jones raised in our recent interview – namely, the easy path is not always the most obvious. Conversely, is writing a long song always a sign of accomplishment and artistic inventiveness? To Bruce, this new album is an answer to that question, up to and including its title, Magnolia. We talked about all this and many other subjects below.

Read the interview…