• News

• All

Jul 06, 2016 By Christopher Roberts Pixies

Pixies have announced a new album, Head Carrier, and shared its first single, “Um Chagga Lagga.” They have also confirmed that Paz Lenchantin (A Perfect Circle, Zwan, The Entrance Band) is their new permanent bassist. Head Carrier is due out September 30 via Pixiesmusic/[PIAS]. Below is “Um Chagga Lagga,” followed by the album’s tracklist and cover art, the single’s cover art, and the band’s tour dates.

Head Carrier is the band’s second album since reuniting in 2004 and is the follow-up to 2014’s Indie Cindy, which was more of an EP collection than an album. Tom Dalgety (Killing Joke, Royal Blood) produced Head Carrier, which was recorded at London’s Rak Studios from mid-February through to mid-March this year. Pixies spent six weeks in pre-production (writing, arranging, and rehearsing all the songs), which was a luxury the band didn’t have in their ‘80s and ‘90s heyday when they were releasing a new album a year from 1988 to 1991. Pixies drummer David Lovering commented on this process in a press release: “This was a wonderful luxury, for us to have the time to be able to really work these new songs out. By the time we started recording, we all knew the songs backwards and forwards, so it took half as long for us to make this album as it did to make Indie Cindy. And it was great working with Tom…he started with us in pre-production and played a big part in keeping us focused on making the best music we could.”

The album features original artwork by the band’s longtime art director, Vaughan Oliver, and a special limited edition deluxe box set of will be available via Pixiesmusic.com, and will include “the CD, the album on heavy-weight/180 gram black vinyl, and a 24-page, oversized booklet with the song’s lyrics and Oliver’s evocative, original artwork.” Also available is a special bundle that includes “the deluxe box set, special t-shirt, and a special screen printed 12” x 12” record sleeve-sized poster of Oliver’s album artwork.”

Officially joining Lovering, rhythm guitarist/vocalist Black Francis, and guitarist Joey Santiago is bassist Paz Lenchantin. She’s been touring with the band since 2014, replacing Kim Shattuck, who was briefly the bassist in 2013 and who replaced founding member Kim Deal. Lenchantin plays and sings on Head Carrier and co-wrote with Francis “All I Think About Now.” She had this to say in a press release: “I was very nervous in the beginning when I went to that first rehearsal. There were these shoes I felt I had to fill and I tried to do the best I could for the fans, to make the live performances sound true to the originals. I spent three years learning to understand what being a Pixie meant, and now, my heart, spirit, and love for their music is embedded in me and I feel like I have become a Pixie. We had been more about the history of the Pixies, but now, we are about going forward.”

Head Carrier Tracklist:

Head Carrier
Classic Masher
Baal’s Back
Might As Well Be Gone
Oona
Talent
Tenement Song
Bel Esprit
All I Think About Now
Um Chagga Lagga
Plaster Of Paris
All The Saints

Pixies Tour Dates:

November:

15 Stadthalle, Vienna, Austria
16 HWS Arena, Poznan, Poland
17 Forum Karlin Hall, Prague, Czech Republic
18 Auditorium Stravinski, Montreux, Switzerland
20 Sant Jordi Club, Barcelona, Spain
21 Coliseum, Porto, Portugal
23 Zenith, Paris, France
25 Lotto, Antwerp, Belgium
27 HMH, Amsterdam, The Netherlands