Pinegrove have gone one step further than most bands when it comes to their Covid music, with ‘Respirate’ directly referencing the virus and the effects that can lead to the necessity of artificial breathing assistance (yes, still very true with Omicron despite what the populist press – and the government – might want you to believe). It also has a direct message for solidarity and communal support in the final verse, “you’re having a hard time now finding a good way out / well me also but no one’s gonna rescue us / no one’ll care if we spend our lives up.”
Speaking of the song singer/guitarist Evan Stephens Hall has said “With ‘Respirate,’ I was thinking about the opportunity we had in the chaos Covid brought to redesign society so that it works well for more people, but that instead what’s unfolding is a doubling down on the same bent and venal structures that have resulted in so much inequity in the first place. So, how can we compassionately respond to such cold and blatant greed? How can we make sure to look out for one another in the absence of meaningful leadership and materially significant policy? We’ve been stranded but we will look out for each other—what choice do we have? The song is a reminder that we’re in this together.”
‘Respirate‘ is taken from the new album ‘11:11‘, out on January 28th on Rough Trade Records.
