PIXIES RELEASE NEW SINGLE ‘MOTOROLLER’ – LISTEN HERE
NEW ALBUM THE NIGHT THE ZOMBIES CAME DUE FOR RELEASE 25 OCTOBER 2024 VIA BMG – PRE-ORDER HERE
Pixies have shared new single ‘Motoroller’, the fourth new song to be released from their anticipated new studio album The Night the Zombies Came, due for release on 25th October via BMG. Listen here. The single comes alongside the news that Pixies will return to the UK and Europe in April and May 2025 for a 20-date headline tour, including nine UK shows with two nights at London’s O2 Brixton Academy.
Following its debut on Steve Lamacq’s BBC Radio 6 Music show last night, the dynamic ‘Motoroller’ follows frontman and principle songwriter Black Francis on a scooter ride across Berlin. Speaking on the track, Francis says:
“This is one of those kinds of songs where there’s little threads you can follow and they take you somewhere. But they’re not required for the experience. You can just start fishing around in the lyrics, and maybe you won’t find exactly what the story is, but you’ll find a story related to the city of Berlin. So just have fun with the clues that are there.”
‘Motoroller’ follows the previously released tracks ‘Oyster Beds’, ‘You’re So Impatient’, ‘Que Sera, Sera’ and ‘Chicken’ – met by widespread acclaim, with The Times describing it as “Dark and dangerous” in their Essential Tracks and Daily Telegraph as a “new, darker direction” in their Songs of The Week, whilst NME hailed it as “haunting”, MOJO as “delightfully ghoulish” and CLASH proclaimed it “Pixies at their blood-curdling best.”
Pixies will kick off their 2025 UK and European headline tour in Utrecht, Netherlands on 25th April, with performances across Belgium, Germany, France, Spain and Portugal before arriving at the P&J Arena in Aberdeen on 13th May. The tour continues with nine dates across the UK at O2 Academy Edinburgh, two nights at London’s O2 Brixton Academy, shows at O2 Academy, Leeds, Academy Birmingham, Cardiff’s Utilita Arena and Newcastle City Hall, before concluding at O2 Apollo Manchester on 24th May.
The news arrives after Pixies wowed UK fans in August. Their mainstage performance at London’s All Points East was described as “raucous” by Rolling Stone UK after their sold out Glasgow Academy show was tipped “a full-on head rush of classics” by the Scottish Sun and “as relevant in 2024 as they were over 35 years ago” by Glasgow World.
Fans can pre-order the album for access to presale tickets here, beginning at 9am BST, Wednesday 18th September, and on general sale from 9am BST, Friday 20th September here.
35 years since their groundbreaking Platinum-certified album Doolittlecatapulted the band into the UK Top Ten, and 20 years since their celebrated reformation at Coachella, Pixies are deep into their second act, and in the midst of a creative purple patch.
The Night the Zombies Came is Pixies’ tenth album, if you count their classic 1987 4AD mini LP Come On Pilgrim, and first new music since 2022’s acclaimed Doggerel LP. 13 new songs that find Pixies looking ahead to the most cinematic record of their career.
Druidism, apocalyptic shopping malls, mediaeval themed restaurants, 12th century poetic form, surf rock, gargoyles, bog people, and the distinctive dry drum sound of 1970s era Fleetwood Mac are just some of the disparate wonders that inform the new songs.
For the new album recording sessions the band returned to work with producer Tom Dalgety, who drummer David Lovering refers to as “a fifth Pixie” after producing 2016’s Head Carrier, 2019’s Beneath the Eyrie and 2022’s Doggerel. Early on in the recording process at Guilford Sound studio in Vermont, the band noticed the new songs were dividing into two camps: what they came to call the “Dust Bowl Songs” – country-tinged, ballad-esque numbers such as ‘Primrose’ and ‘Mercy Me’, and on the other side, the album’s furious punk numbers such as ‘You’re So Impatient’ and ‘Oyster Beds’. Only ‘Jane (The Night the Zombies Came)’ keeps its feet in both camps — reminiscent of early 60s Phil Spector, the band hitting the sweet spot between mushy and abrasive, it’s a track that Black Francis allegedly likened to being chased by a swarm of bees.
The Night the Zombies Came sessions also saw Pixies welcoming new bass player Emma Richardson (Band Of Skulls) to the line up; the first British band member to join the group. There’s also an expanded role for guitarist Joey Santiago. After contributing his first-ever Pixies lyrics on Doggerel, for the new record Santiago wrote the words to ‘Hypnotised’ by completing a complex lyrical riddle of sorts, known as a sestina.
Looking ahead, Pixies will head for New Zealand and Australia in November for stadium gigs with Pearl Jam, closing what’s set to be a monumental year for one of the world’s most influential, revered and deeply adored bands, before embarking on their UK and European headline tour in Spring 2025.
The Night the Zombies Came is released on 25 October via BMG on black vinyl, CD, digital download and on streaming platforms. A crystal clear and red smoke LP will be available at HMV and independent record shops, as well as a limited edition pearlescent vinyl available from Blood Records. A crystal clear and violet smoke LP plus merchandise bundles will be available from the official Pixies store here.
The Night the Zombies Came Tracklisting
1 Primrose
2 You’re So Impatient
3 Jane (The Night the Zombies Came)
4 Chicken
5 Hypnotised
6 Johnny Good Man
7 Motoroller
8 I Hear You Mary
9 Oyster Beds
10 Mercy Me
11 Ernest Evans
12 Kings of the Prairie
13 The Vegas Suite
The Night the Zombies Came Vinyl
2024 Auckland and New Zealand Tour w/ Pearl Jam
November 8 – Go Media Stadium Mt Smart, Auckland, New Zealand [SOLD OUT]
November 10 – Go Media Stadium Mt Smart, Auckland, New Zealand
November 13 – Heritage Bank Stadium, Gold Coast, Australia [SOLD OUT]
November 16 – Marvel Stadium, Melbourne, Australia [SOLD OUT]
November 18 – Marvel Stadium, Melbourne, Australia
November 21 – Giants Stadium, Sydney, Australia [SOLD OUT]
November 23 – Giants Stadium, Sydney, Australia
2025 UK and European Headline Tour
April 25th – TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht
April 26th – Lotto Arena, Antwerp
April 28th – Oosterport, Groningen
April 29th – 013, Tilburg
May 1st – Tempodrom, Berlin
May 2nd – Palladium, Cologne
May 3rd – TonHalle, Munich
May 6th – Arkea Arena, Bordeaux
May 7th – Zenith, Nantes
May 9th – Palacio de los Deportes de Granada, Granada
May 10th – Sagres Campo Pequeno, Lisbon
May 13th – P&J Arena, Aberdeen
May 14th – O2 Academy, Edinburgh
May 16th – O2 Brixton Academy, London
May 17th – O2 Brixton Academy, London
May 19th – O2 Academy, Leeds
May 20th – Academy, Birmingham
May 21st – Utilita Arena, Cardiff
May 23rd – O2 City Hall, Newcastle
May 24th – O2 Apollo, Manchester
Photographer credit Travis Shinn
