You are about to enter a hallucinatory space populated by witches and psychics, tarot cards and crystal balls, madness and trepidation, and a harrowing ride in a hearse driven by a Hell Hound. During this cosmic trek, you will likely slide into infinity, a place where the “eerie” and “magical” seem to be part of the very air. No need for psychedelics to tune into what you are about to witness. Just sit back, click PLAY, and take a mind-bending plunge with Pixies‘ new music video, “On Graveyard Hill.”
A tip of the hat to film director Kenneth Anger, the “On Graveyard Hill” video was conceived and directed by Kii Arens (Devo’s “What We Do”, Queens of the Stone Age’s “The Vampyre of Time and Memory”) and Bobbi Rich and shot in Los Angeles. Said Arens, “Directing for the all mighty Pixies is quite an honor, and I was given complete artistic freedom to do what I wished. The freedom to do so makes sense as to why they are such an original, real deal band. I started my career in music creating rock art so it’s perfect for this psychedelic freak-out video release.”
“On Graveyard Hill,” that debuted at #1 on FMQB’s SubModern Chart, is the first track from Pixies upcoming album Beneath The Eyrie (BMG), produced by GRAMMY-nominated Tom Dalgety, and due out September 13. Episode Four of the 12-episode “It’s a Pixies’ Podcast,” where the band pulls back the curtain to shine light on the album’s recording process, will post globally this Thursday on Apple, Spotify, Acast, Stitcher, Google and other podcast platforms. The band – Black Francis/vocals, guitars; Joey Santiago/guitars, David Lovering/drums, and Paz Lenchantin/bass – will support the album’s release with an extensive 2019-2020 world tour that will launch on Saturday, August 31 at the Daydream Festival in Pasadena, CA. This will mark the first time the band has shared a stage with the festival’s curators The Cure in 30 years, the first time being in 1989 at L.A.’s Dodger Stadium. Pixies will then head to the UK for its first European tour in two years, that begins September 13. Further worldwide dates to be announced shortly.
While Pixies have been acclaimed as the most influential, pioneering band of the late 80s alt/rock movement, having blazed the trail for artists from Nirvana to Radiohead to Pearl Jam, today, a whole new generation of music fans is discovering the band’s iconic “loudquietloud” signature sound. After five genre-defining studio albums — including the now-Platinum-certified Doolittle- Pixies disbanded in 1993, and then launched their reunion tour in April 2004, playing to sell-out crowds across the globe for 15 years, a far longer period of time than they were a band originally. But writing, recording and releasing new music was something that the band had been wanting to do for a long time, so they secretly booked studio time in Wales for the fall of 2012. Six days into the recording, founding bassist Kim Deal decided to leave the band; Black Francis, Joey Santiago andDavid Lovering made the decision to carry on, finishing and releasing the band’s first studio album in more than two decades, 2014’s Indie Cindy. Also wanting to play live, the three began working with a number of touring bassists, including former A Perfect Circle bassist, Paz Lenchantin who came out on the road with the band in 2014. The band welcomed her as Pixies’ permanent bassist in 2016.
Also in 2016, Pixies released its second post-reunion studio album, Head Carrierwhich was also Lenchantin’s recording debut with the band. As the UK’s DIYput it, “They’re back. They’re still brilliant. God save the Pixies.”
December 2018 saw the band holed up at Dreamland Studios near Woodstock, NY with producer Tom Dalgety where they recorded their second album as a unit, “Beneath the Eyrie” out on September 13, 2019.
