Pinegrove’s 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 life’s big and difficult questions.
11:11 features lush soundscapes, organs, Megan Benavente’s melodic and adventurous bass playing, Josh Marre’s signature guitar work & a special guest- Doug Hall, Evan’s father- playing piano on many tracks. The record sounds intimate, yet expansive.
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.