Poetic musings on climate change and how to cope.
Comforting, apocalyptic, lyrical, Pinegrove’s latest release revolves around myriad states of mind and emotion. The intriguing title, ’11:11′ is open to interpretation but devotees of numerology will tell you that this number can cause those influenced by it to find inner strength in difficult times, coping well with crisis and chaos. With lead singer, Evan Stephens Hall exploring themes of climate change, Covid and near-death experience, it is evident that he finds this inner strength a key factor in surviving the challenges of this stage in our history.
Through the opening indie-rock tones of’Habitat’, anger and anguish surface about the state of our ecology and maybe the first lyric in history to rhyme, “Benthic tide” with, “Vandalised”; benthic referring to the flora and fauna at the bottom of a sea or lake for the curious-minded. Musically the album slows down, becomes more quiescent from here on in. Like driving away from the city into the shape and sounds of the countryside, the mood changes. Tracks like, ‘Alaska‘ and ‘Iodine’ reflect on patterns tied to consciousness and time and possess a decidedly spaced-out feel: “I’m spiraled up/iridescent mind is reaching up/for something pure and actual”. Government inaction and short-sighted focus are raged against in ‘Orange’ whilst ‘Flora’ with its birds’ singing “Dissident tunes” has a vertiginous forboding of climate apocalypse. The madness of the pandemic echoes through ‘Respirate’ relating the personal and universal. The indifference of nature and its vital force permeate ‘Swimming’ leading towards the close of the album with ‘Cyclone’ and ’11th Hour’; the latter track’s numerological significance intimating that despite the dire state of the planet, all is not lost.
