Pixies to Release New Album 'The Night The Zombies Came,' Share New Song
The album will be released on October 25.
By: Josh Sharpe Jul. 24, 2024
Pixies will release their brand-new studio album, The Night the Zombies Came on October 25 via BMG, in time for Halloween.
Thirty-five years since their groundbreaking album Doolittle catapulted the band into the U.K. Top Ten and was certified Platinum in America, and 20 years since their celebrated reformation at Coachella, Pixies are deep into their second act amid a creative purple patch.
The Night the Zombies Came is Pixies’ tenth album if you count their classic 1987 4AD mini-LP Come On Pilgrim and the first new music since 2022’s acclaimed Doggerel LP. Thirteen new songs that find Pixies looking ahead to the most cinematic record of their career.
Songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist Black Francis explains, “Fragments that are related and juxtaposed with other fragments in other songs. And in a collection of songs in a so-called LP, you end up making a kind of movie.”
Druidism, apocalyptic shopping malls, medieval-themed restaurants, 12th-century poetic form, surf rock, gargoyles, bog people, and the distinctive dry drum sound of 1970s-era Fleetwood Mac are just some of the disparate wonders that inform the new songs.
Testament to this kaleidoscopic vista is the new song ‘Chicken.’ Available, songwriter Black Francis personifies poultry, dealing with decapitation and feeling like an actor in Zombie movies as Joey Santiago’s impulsive lead guitar takes flight.
The Night the Zombies Came will also include ‘You’re So Impatient,’ the brand-new single with AA-side ‘Que Sera, Sera’ which saw Pixies described as “alt-rock gods” by Steve Lamacq on BBC 6 Music and tipped as “huge new singles” by the U.K.’s NME.
For the new album recording sessions, the band returned to work with producer Tom Dalgety, who drummer David Lovering refers to as “a fifth Pixie” after producing 2016’s Head Carrier, 2019’s Beneath the Eyrie and 2022’s Doggerel. Early on in the recording process at Guilford Sound studio in Vermont, the band noticed the new songs were dividing into two camps: what they came to call the “Dust Bowl Songs” - country-tinged, balladesque numbers such as ‘Primrose’ and ‘Mercy Me,’ and on the other side, the album’s furious punk numbers such as ‘You’re So Impatient’ and ‘Oyster Beds.’ Only ‘Jane (The Night the Zombies Came)’ keeps its feet in both camps — reminiscent of early ‘60s Phil Spector, the band hitting the sweet spot between mushy and abrasive, it’s a track that Black Francis allegedly likened to being chased by a swarm of bees.
The Night the Zombies Came sessions also saw Pixies welcoming new bass player Emma Richardson (Band Of Skulls) to the lineup, the first British band member to join the Pixies. There’s also an expanded role for guitarist Joey Santiago. After contributing his first-ever Pixies lyrics on Doggerel, for the new record, Santiago wrote the words to ‘Hypnotised’ by completing a complex lyrical riddle of sorts, known as a sestina.
The news of The Night the Zombies Came arrives amidst a packed touring schedule set to take in circa 70 live shows worldwide through 2024 - with even more dates to be announced for 2025. The band just wrapped a tour across North America with Modest Mouse and Cat Power and is playing through Europe before returning to the U.K. in August for a run of already sold-out headline shows at Glasgow Academy and Halifax’s Piece Hall. Major festival performances at London’s All Points East, Victorious, and headline shows at Galway Airport, Belfast’s Custom House Square, and Dublin’s RDS Simmonscourt are all scheduled.
Pixies’ upcoming tour dates are as follows:
2024 Europe and UK Tour
JULY
24 Razzmatazz, Barcelona, Spain [SOLD OUT]
26 Low Festival, Benidorm, Spain [FESTIVAL]
28 Noches Del Botánico, Madrid, Spain [SOLD OUT]
30 Lété Au Chateau, Provence, France [SOLD OUT
AUGUST
1 OpenLucht Theater Goffert, Nijmegen, Netherlands [SOLD OUT]
2 OpenLucht Theater Goffert, Nijmegen, Netherlands [SOLD OUT]
4 Ronquieres Festival, Braine-le-Comte, Belgium [FESTIVAL]
5 Lokerse Feesten, Lokeren, Belgium [FESTIVAL]
7 Den Atelier, Luxembourg [SOLD OUT]
8 Musik Im Park, Schwetzingen, Germany10 Forum Karlin, Prague, Czech Republic [SOLD OUT]
13 House of Culture, Helsinki, Finland [SOLD OUT]
14 House of Culture, Helsinki, Finland [SOLD OUT]
16 Parkenfestivalen, Bodø, Norway [FESTIVAL]
17 Stereo Festival, Trondheim, Norway [FESTIVAL]
20 Academy, Glasgow, UK [SOLD OUT]
21 Piece Hall, Halifax, UK [SOLD OUT]
23 All Points East, London, UK [FESTIVAL]
24 Victorious Festival, Portsmouth, UK [FESTIVAL]
25 Rock en Seine, Paris, France [FESTIVAL]
27 Galway Airport, Galway, Ireland
28 Custom House Square, Belfast, UK [SOLD OUT]
29 RDS Simmonscourt, Dublin, Ireland
2024 Auckland and New Zealand Tour w/ Pearl Jam
NOVEMBER
8 Go Media Stadium Mt Smart, Auckland, New Zealand [SOLD OUT]
10 Go Media Stadium Mt Smart, Auckland, New Zealand
13 Heritage Bank Stadium, Gold Coast, Australia [SOLD OUT]
16 Marvel Stadium, Melbourne, Australia [SOLD OUT]
18 Marvel Stadium, Melbourne, Australia
21 Giants Stadium, Sydney, Australia [SOLD OUT]
23 Giants Stadium, Sydney, Australia
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Photo credit: Travis Shinn |
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