Credit: Anne-Marie Forker
FIRST SINGLE FROM NEW SOLO ALBUM 'GHOSTS IN THE PARK'
SET FOR RELEASE ON 15th MAY 2026
As founding member and principal songwriter of The Pineapple Thief, Bruce Soord has spent the last decade steadily refining a voice that balances emotional directness with musical restraint. Set for release on 15th May, Ghosts In The Park, his latest solo album, is his most personal and unguarded work to date: a record shaped by loss, memory, and the quiet spaces that reveal themselves when life continues to move while everything else appears to stop. Today, Bruce has shared the first single from the album, titled ‘Pillars’ alongside a new video produced by George Laycock.
WATCH THE NEW VIDEO FOR ‘PILLARS’ NOW, PRODUCED BY GEORGE LAYCOCK: https://youtu.be/dc3HOoWY5gg
Excessive, damaging introspection, I guess is the theme of the song. I remember the day in my life when I was liberated from my god-fearing introspection. Only then could I see the damage it had done to me and was still doing to the people around me. The song is about that: the damage I have witnessed. It’s framed around religion and penance, but it’s not anti-religion, it’s about balance. Oh and the line about pillars. It’s a bit of a playful reference to Saint Simeon Stylites, a Christian ascetic from around 400 AD. Legend has it he perched on top of a pillar for 37 years, taking himself away from the world in order to dedicate his life entirely to prayer, fasting, and repentance. I thought it was quite apt.
I’ve been working with George Laycock from Blacktide Productions for years now, it’s incredible what he can do with his imagination and camera. – Bruce Soord
STREAM/DOWNLOAD THE NEW SINGLE ‘PILLARS’: https://orcd.co/pillars_listen
Written over a two-year period while Soord was touring extensively with The Pineapple Thief, the album emerged in hotel rooms, unfamiliar cities, and moments of enforced solitude. Against this backdrop, Soord was navigating the drawn-out decline and eventual death of his father, alongside the continued progression of his mother’s Alzheimer’s. These experiences form the emotional spine of Ghosts In The Park - grief in motion, memory surfacing unpredictably, and the quiet determination to keep moving forward.
Bruce Soord – Ghosts In The Park
Concepcion [01:25]
Pillars [03:10]
Meet Me On The Downs [03:05]
Kept Me Thinking [06:34]
Day Of Wrath [04:21]
Our Predicament [03:43]
Stared Down [04:33]
You Made A Promise [02:56]
Ghosts In The Park [12:52]
Ghosts In The Park will be released on 15th May on the following formats -
3CD/BLU-RAY EARBOOK EDITION FEATURING RENOWNED PIANIST GLEB KOLYADIN (IAMTHEMORNING) - INCLUDES ‘GHOSTS IN THE PARK’ CD ALBUM, CD WITH ACOUSTIC REIMAGININGS, CD WITH PIANO VERSIONS & BLU-RAY DISC WITH HI-RES MIXES (DOLBY ATMOS, DTS-HD MA 5.1, & 24/48 PCM STEREO)
CREAM WHITE VINYL LP (UK INDEPENDENT STORE EXCLUSIVE)
+ DARK GREEN VINYL LP
CLASSIC BLACK VINYL LP
DIGIPACK CD EDITION, INCLUDES 16-PAGE PRINTED BOOKLET WITH LYRICS AND UNSEEN PHOTOGRAPHS
PRE-ORDER GHOSTS IN THE PARK: https://brucesoord.lnk.to/Ghosts_In_The_Park
Acoustic guitar sits at the centre of the record, often captured in raw, first-take performances recorded directly in hotel rooms before being carefully integrated with studio recordings. This tension between fragility and control defines the album’s sound. Tracks such as “Concepción,” “Meet Me On The Downs,” and the title piece were conceived in specific places - Chile, Hamburg, Oberhausen - each location leaving a subtle imprint on the music. Parks, harbours, and anonymous rooms become recurring settings where past and present coexist, intersected by fleeting moments of clarity amongst the disorder.
Performed almost entirely by Soord himself, with bass contributions from Jon Sykes on “Kept Me Thinking,” the album was recorded using a combination of hotel-room captures and studio sessions, preserving the immediacy of its origins. Mastered by Steve Kitch, Ghosts In The Park stands as a stark, reflective and evolutionary companion piece to Soord’s acclaimed previous solo work.
BRUCE SOORD LIVE SHOWS
Bruce Soord & Jon Sykes/ Tim Bowness (co-headliner)
Sun 24 May | Liverpool | Philharmonic Music Room
Fri 29 May | Bath | Bath Fringe Festival at Rondo Theatre
Sat 20 June | London | The 100 Club
Bruce Soord
3 June – Backstage by the Mill, Paris - France
4 June – Boederij, Zoetermeer - NL
5/6 June - Ankea Festival - Tampere, Finland
Ghosts In The Park will be released on 15th May on Kscope. Pre-order here.
https://brucesoord.lnk.to/Ghosts_In_The_Park
Bruce Soord online:
Facebook, twitter & Instagram: @bsoord
The Pineapple Thief online:
Website: www.thepineapplethief.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thepineapplethief
Twitter: www.twitter.com/pineapplethief
Instagram: www.instagram.com/thepineapplethief
Spotify: https://play.spotify.com/artist/4lrBMUSk8PiNnCEZfsmPAk
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE6401DB011BD837E
Apple Music: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/the-pineapple-thief/id278648772
Hi-res images available here: www.kscopemusic.com/media/brucesoord
Press inquiries: Keith James, Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158 (USA), glassonyonpr@gmail.com
