11.11: Vinyl LP

Pinegroves new album 11:11 is an unqualified triumph, an album that seizes listeners with hook-filled songs imbuing feelings of warmth, urgency, and poetic beauty, even as it asks some of lifes big and difficult questions. On previous Pinegrove recordings, band member Sam Skinner usually oversees mixing duties, but this time out, noted producer and former Death Cab for Cutie member Chris Walla has assumed the role. Calling previous album Marigolds production crisp and contained, Hall, who co-produced 11:11 with Sam, sought more of a messier feel for these new songs. Most of the recording took place at two Hudson Valley facilities (Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock and The Building in Marlboro) with the final touches done side by side with Walla in Seattle. 11:11 features lush soundscapes, organs, Megan Benaventes melodic and adventurous bass playing, Josh Marres signature guitar work & a special guest- Doug Hall, Evans father- playing piano on many tracks. The record sounds intimate, yet expansive. It spends equal time on optimism, community, reaffirming what we are and how its our duty to look out for one another says singer Evan Stephens Hall. Theres anger, love, hope and grief. The record has all of that.The opening mini epic track, Habitat, is a two-part masterpiece of texturalism, brimming with robust, percussive guitars and driven by unsettling shifts. Another key track is Alaska, a happy-go-lucky romp of dense, bracing guitar rock, lurching out of the gate with tectonic force and boasting hooks at every turn. Later, the breezy, pastoral folk-tinged Iodine glistens with exquisite vocal harmonies, and Flora is a beautifully appointed apology to nature, its luxurious country rock feels connected to past masters like the Flying Burrito Brothers or early Wilco.