Pixies unveil new single and Paz Lenchantin-directed video – watch
'Human Crime' could be the first taste of the band's eighth album
Pixies have unveiled their new single and released the accompanying video – you can see it below.
The stormy ‘Human Crime’ is the first new material from the legendary indie rockers since September 2020, and is likely the first taste of their eighth studio album, which is expected this year. The accompanying video follows its protagonist, a woman dressed as a pixie, through the urban landscape surrounding the abandoned World War II bunkers in San Pedro, California.
The video was directed by the band’s bassist, Paz Lenchantin, who said: “The storyline is loosely based on an ‘inside joke’ between Charles [Thompson, a.k.a. frontman Black Francis] and I about going on tour. How we go through a door from our reality state into the altered state of becoming and being a Pixie.”
The track follows 2020’s standalone single ‘Hear Me Out’, ahead of a busy year of touring for the group that should also see the arrival of the follow-up to 2019’s ‘Beneath the Eyrie’. The record’s release will see this iteration of Pixies equal the band’s original lineup in terms of studio albums released, with four apiece.
The Boston legends’ pre-grunge heyday saw them put out ‘Surfer Rosa’, ‘Doolittle’, ‘Bossanova’ and ‘Trompe le Monde’ between 1988 and 1991, before their 1993 split. Their 2004 reunion initially focused primarily on touring, before the departure of original bassist Kim Deal in 2013 heralded a return to the studio for remaining members Francis, guitarist Joey Santiago and drummer David Lovering.
Album number eight will follow 2014’s ‘Indie Cindy’ and 2016’s ‘Head Carrier’ as well as ‘Beneath the Eyrie’. Last month, Francis told The Guardian that he has written about 40 songs for it. Pixies have been announced as headliners for this year’s instalment of the BBC 6 Music Festival in Cardiff; they’ll play a bill-topping set at The Great Hall on April 1. They return to the UK in the summer for a slew of outdoor shows – see the full dates below.
Pixies, July 2022:
5 – Manchester, Castlefield Bowl
8 – London, Hyde Park [supporting Pearl Jam]
August 2022:
3 – Edinburgh, Corn Exchange
4 – Glasgow, Kelvingrove Bandstand
5 – Newcastle, Times Square
8 – Bingley, Bingley Weekender
September 2022:
1-4 – Sixpenny Handley, End of the Road Festival