Photo Credit: Caroline Tompkins
Today, Pinegrove share brand new track “Moment.” This marks the band’s first release for esteemed indie Rough Trade Records.
Pinegrove’s singer/songwriter/guitarist Evan Stephens Hall says of this new song, “‘Moment’ for me was a way of thinking about gratitude in the context of chaos or tedium.
Pinegrove were formed in 2010 in Montclair, NJ by childhood friends Evan Stephens Hall and drummer Zack Levine. With roots in their hometown DIY scene, they emerged from the depths of Bandcamp with a collection of articulate, emotionally complex songs that resonated deeply with an eager audience.
Evan’s superlative songwriting – informed as much by country and folk influences as the punk rock scene of his peers – and matched by the band’s electrifying, joyous live shows quickly gained them a cult following. Over the space of two studio albums – 2016’s Cardinal and 2018’s Skylight – and extensive touring, Pinegrove blossomed into a success story, filling theaters around the world with fans eager to commune with their songs of “empathy, introspection and compassion.”
Hall named the band after a “beautiful and regulated, yet natural and messy” grid of pine trees on his college grounds.
‘The Pinegrove’ was a place of introspection, repose and spiritual serenity, and a place he had established to be creatively fertile. That influence – the peace found in nature and contemplation – is a theme in his songwriting. “Moment” continues that tradition with references to emotional chaos, traffic and imagery of “an animal scared stiff in the lights of the van.”
It’s a powerful return from a band at full creative tilt.
Pinegrove’s line-up is an ever evolving entity built around a group of likeminded musical collaborators from a close knit creative community. This revolving cast of characters has allowed the songs to take on new and exciting arrangements from tour to tour. The upcoming live shows will feature longtime Pinegrove members Nick Levine, Sam Skinner, Josh Marre and a new addition to the lineup, Megan Benavente, alongside Zack and Evan.