Habitat (song)

Last updated
"Habitat"
Single by Pinegrove
from the album 11:11
ReleasedJanuary 26, 2022 (2022-01-26)
Genre
Length6:56
Label Rough Trade
Songwriter(s) Evan Stephens Hall
Producer(s)
  • Evan Stephens Hall
  • Sam Skinner
Pinegrove singles chronology
"Respirate"
(2022)		"Habitat"
(2022)

"Habitat" is a song recorded by the American rock band Pinegrove. The song was released on January 26, 2022 through Rough Trade, as the fourth single from the band's fourth studio album 11:11 . It was written by singer-songwriter Evan Stephens Hall.

Contents

Background

Much of 11:11 consists of concise, mid-tempo songs, [1] save for its opener, "Habitat", which runs six minutes long. [2] Hall intended for the song to function as an overture, introducing the listener to the album's concepts. [3] It is both the oldest and most recent song recorded for the album: the song has roots in a mid-2010s demo [4] that Hall re-discovered and wrote new lyrics to reflect his present feelings. The back half of "Habitat" is technically a different song according to the song's tablature, available on the band's website, titled "Precipice"; [5] this piece was written in the studio to complement the original song. This section ends with Hall "Never forget, the t-shirt says/With no mask on." [6] In a statement, Hall spoke on the song's meaning: "'Habitat' collages imagery from across the 2020's—monuments to the past torn down, vandalized, & thrown to the waves, making much needed room for new symbols to ornament our world with." [7] In the song's opening lyrics, over acoustic guitar, Hall sings: "It’s so still, how’d you do that? You settled down my habitat." [8] The song intermittently shifts to "angrier blasts of grungy guitar and drums." [6] The song utilizes field recording of birds, [9] as well as in-studio noise, such as "shifting feet, buttons or pedals, and amplifier hum." [6]

In an interview, Hall expounded on these themes within "Habitat":

"Habitat" ended up being about all of the falling-apart homes in New York state; there are a lot of affluence that’s coming to the area, but you go a little further and half of the town is boarded up. There are brand new cop cars driving around the town and buildings are literally caving in — so I think there’s a serious contradiction there that needs to be addressed. I renovated that song to fit the present moment, and I like that song a lot because I feel like I was able to talk about how emotional it actually feels to see these policy decisions in practice. It’s not some dry, technocratic thing: it’s people’s lives and their communities, and you can see it. That song talks about more than that, though — it’s also about time, and how big moments can stretch across the span of our history. It made me think of our civil rights movement in 2020, and how that started here with the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor but ultimately funneled around the world because of the energy in that moment. [8]

Release and reception

Rough Trade issued "Habitat" as the fourth single from 11:11 on January 26, 2022, two days before the release of the album. [7] That same day saw the debut of the song's music video, directed by Brian Paccione. [10]

Ben Salmon at Paste interpreted the song as ruminating on American decline. [11] Marcy Donelson of AllMusic praised Hall's "simultaneously poetic and direct way with words." [6]

Credits

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. [12]

Locations

Personnel

Pinegrove

Additional musicians

Technical

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References

  1. ↑ Testa, Jim (January 29, 2022). "Pinegrove gets introspective but also expresses alarm about environment on new album '11:11'". NJArts.com. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
  2. ↑ Moody, Mark (June 15, 2023). "11:11". Under the Radar Magazine. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  3. ↑ Schafer, Debra Kate (January 26, 2022). "Talking '11:11' – The Album That Turned Pinegrove's House Into a Home". The Aquarian. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  4. ↑ Bell, John (May 11, 2022). "Pinegrove: "A song is a process that helps me understand myself better"". Ticketmaster UK. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Pinegrove: 11:11 Tabs". Pinegrove. January 11, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Donelson, Marcy (January 28, 2022). "Pinegrove - 11:11 Album Reviews, Songs & More". AllMusic. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  7. 1 2 Kenneally, Cerys (January 26, 2022). "Pinegrove share new song "Habitat"". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  8. 1 2 "Evan Stephens Hall of Pinegrove is wishing for a better world with 11:11". MELODIC Magazine. January 28, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  9. ↑ Smyth, David (January 28, 2022). "Pinegrove - 11:11 review: Pumpkin-spiced indie with a piquant whiff of politics". Evening Standard . Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Pinegrove - "Habitat" (Official Video)". YouTube. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Pinegrove Find Comfort in the Struggle on 11:11". Paste Magazine. July 26, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  12. ↑ 11:11 (liner notes). Pinegrove. US: Rough Trade Records. 2022. RT0270LP.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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