More about: Pinegrove

Pinegrove’s fourth album to date, Marigold, picks up right where Skylight left off, presenting the band very much at the top of their game. Hearing Evan Stephens Hall’s voice once again feels like getting into a warm bath. From the first faithful inhalation of ‘Dotted Line’ to the optimistic, meditative conclusion in the title track, we’re put under the band’s spell once again.

Their lyrics are wholesome, unapologetically so, but the problems that Hall sings about - cryptically, more of that not - feel universal. Pinegrove’s worldview is optimistic and easy to subscribe to, and ‘Dotted Line’ exemplifies this perfectly with it’s central refrain, “I don’t know how, but I’m thinking it’ll all work out”. They are disarmingly sincere and Marigold radiates warmth and inclusivity in ways that few artists can match without making a concerted PR push to do so. 

It’s an album that undulates, slowing down to a crawl and then speeding back up at a moment’s notice from song to song - no track shows this better than ‘The Alarmist’, stripping things down initially only to crank it right back up all over again. And when it swells, it soars, giving way to ‘No Drugs’, a song that conveys an unrelenting positive message.

By the time we reach ‘Moment’, the band’s signature sparkling guitars make an appearance - with a universal anxiety at the song’s core, “scared to know, what I need to know.” It’s no wonder this was one of the main singles in the lead up to the album’s release. ‘Hairpin’ slows us back down to a crawl, teeing up the other major single ‘Phase’ - perhaps the best possible evidence of Pinegrove staying true to who they are. ‘Endless’ might be the best song on the record, continuing Marigold’s sonic meandering, before we reach ‘Alcove’, which tells you everything you need to know about the single line pairing, “I’ll go, if you want” - a mature, reasonable and entirely adult refrain that gives the band an identity all of their own when they are typically all too easily compared to the likes of Oso Oso and Microwave. 

If ‘Dotted Line’ is Marigold’s inhalation, then the title track is where we exhale along with the band. It’s a six minute odyssey that serves as the aftermath of ‘Neighbour’ as one guitar rings out while another continues noodling alongside it as though caught in it’s wake. In a world aching to be cynical, Pinegrove are anything but, and Marigold is a ray of hope in a hopeless world. 

Marigold is released on 17 January 2020 via Rough Trade Records.

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More about: Pinegrove