11:11 (Pinegrove album)

The album was largely recorded at a pair of upstate New York facilities: the Building in Marlboro and at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, an 18-acre complex named for the former drummer of the Band. While previous Pinegrove releases were mixed by Sam Skinner, the band sought a "messier" approach to the sonic texture of 11:11, in contrast to polished production in the past. To this end, they enlisted producer and former Death Cab for Cutie member Chris Walla, who oversaw mixing of the album at his Seattle studio. In a press statement, Hall summarized the album's themes: "It spends equal time on optimism, community, reaffirming our human duty to look out for one another even in the absence of the people we expect to do those things. What if we have to be our own salvation?"[1]

The band issued "Orange", the first single from 11:11, on August 25, 2021;[2] an album announcement and pre-order took place on November 11 (or 11:11), alongside the release of second single "Alaska".[1]

11:11 prominently explores concepts such as climate change. "Alaska" takes place on an airplane operated by a sleeping pilot, flying diagonally across America. The narrator describes grids of trees and cornfields repeating like numerical patterns. Hall described the song as a pre-emptive mourning of these landscapes in the context of escalating climate change. He likened the "strangely liminal space" of an aircraft cabin "a metaphor for how time has felt" during the coronavirus pandemic.[3] "Orange" more directly tackles these issues, with its title referring to the smoke-filled hue given to skies over the state of Oregon due to wildfires. It expresses frustration at government inaction, with Hall calling "to affirm community, to step in and help one another cope in the absence of our government, and take seriously the need to organize for a better world."[4]

All tracks are written by Evan Stephens Hall.

• List of 2022 albums