The return of Pixies has been rapturously received, the alt-rock trailblazers reconnecting with long-term fans and introducing themselves to a fresh new audience. In recent weeks, they’ve headlined large outdoor venues across the UK, performed as special guests to Pearl Jam in Hyde Park, and played one of their most intimate shows in years at Manchester’s Band On The Wall. The shows come ahead of the release of their new album ‘Doggerel’ on 30th September, which was previewed by its lead single ‘There’s A Moon On’.
Pixies’ momentum continues as they today share the follow-up single ‘Vault of Heaven’.
Mixing dusky, Morricone-style desert noir atmospherics with a chiming, melodic guitar motif, ‘Vault of Heaven’ also takes a leftfield turn as flourishes of female backing vocals provide an almost hymnal touch. Black Francis’s lyrics combine elements that are both abstract and everyday in a surrealist narrative, in which the protagonist aims for salvation but only ends up falling flat on his face.
‘Vault of Heaven’ is released alongside an official video which brings its absurdist tale to life. It begins with a semi-clothed Zorro-esque figure who is heading into Los Angeles on the back of a toy horse. He arrives at a 7-Eleven, where things get stranger still with the help of bizarre Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe lookalikes. The visual was directed by the filmmaker and musician Charles Derenne.
As we’ve heard from both ‘Vault of Heaven’ and ‘There’s A Moon On’, ‘Doggerel’ is a mature yet visceral record of gruesome folk, ballroom pop and brutal rock. Its stories are haunted by the ghosts of affairs and indulgences, driven wild by cosmic forces and envisioning digital afterlives where no God has provided one. Pixies – completed by Joey Santiago (guitar), Paz Lanchantin (bass) and David Lovering (drums) – recorded the album with producer Tom Dalgety (Royal Blood, Ghost) in Vermont.
‘Doggerel’ is available to pre-order HERE. The band’s official store offers a range of physical product, merch and bundles as well as two exclusive formats: an orange vinyl and a red cassette.
Australia is set to be one of the first countries to hear songs from ‘Doggerel’ live with Pixies returning in 2022 for their mammoth – Come On Pilgrim… It’s Surfer Rosa tour. The tour will bear witness to both seminal albums being performed in full – plus new and old tracks spanning their extensive catalogue.
Fans had better get in quick with most shows sold out and only a handful of tickets remaining for Sydney Opera House Forecourt, Sunday 4th December and Fremantle Arts Centre, Sunday 11th December.
Pixies
Come On Pilgrim… It’s Surfer Rosa
Australia 2022
Presented by Live Nation
BRISBANE Fortitude Music Hall, Friday 2nd December SOLD OUT
SYDNEY Sydney Opera House Forecourt, Saturday 3rd December SOLD OUT
SYDNEY Sydney Opera House Forecourt, Sunday 4th December **TICKETS AVAILABLE**
MELBOURNE Forum, Tuesday 6th December SOLD OUT
MELBOURNE Forum, Wednesday 7th December SOLD OUT
ADELAIDE Thebarton Theatre, Thursday 8th December SOLD OUT
PERTH Fremantle Arts Centre, Saturday 10th December SOLD OUT
PERTH Fremantle Arts Centre, Sunday 11th December **TICKETS AVAILABLE**
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