''Beneath the Eyrie'' is the seventh studio album by American

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

band

Pixies A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas aro ...

, released on September 13, 2019, by BMG/

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. Produced by

Tom Dalgety Tom Dalgety is an English record producer and audio engineer. He is most noted for his work with Pixies, Ghost, and Royal Blood. He was nominated for Grammy Awards in 2019 for his production work on the Ghost album ''Prequelle'' (Best Rock Albu ...

, and preceded by the singles "On Graveyard Hill" and "Catfish Kate", the album was recorded in

Dreamland Recording Studios Dreamland Recording Studios is a residential recording studio located in the town of Hurley, New York. Opened in 1986 as a recording facility, the studio is housed in what was once St. John's Church built in 1896. Some of the artists that recorded ...

, a remote, converted church in

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...

. The band were influenced by their Gothic surroundings during the writing and recording process, with vocalist and guitarist Black Francis stating: "I wanted to intermingle with the spirit world, with life and death and with the mystical and a more surreal landscape."

Recording and release

The album was produced by Tom Dalgety, who had previously worked with the band on their 2016 album '' Head Carrier''. Its release was preceded by lead single "On Graveyard Hill" on June 3, 2019, followed by second single "Catfish Kate" on August 6. The album's title was inspired by an eagle's nest discovered at the back of the converted church that the band were recording in: "There was an old train track from the 1800s that was all grown in. When you walk to the train track you can get a glint of a giant eagle’s nest, a bald eagle’s nest. It’s huge, quite a sight." The album's cover was designed by

Vaughan Oliver Vaughan Oliver (12 September 1957 – 29 December 2019) was a British graphic designer based in Epsom, Surrey. Oliver was best known for his work with graphic design studios 23 Envelope and v23. Both studios maintained a close relationship with ...

, who had designed all of Pixies' album artwork since '' Come On Pilgrim'' in 1987. ''Beneath the Eyrie'' was Oliver's last collaboration with the band before his death in December 2019. The Deluxe Edition of the album was released on February 24, 2020.

Promotion

Leading up to the album, the 12-episode series ''It’s a Pixies Podcast'' (originally entitled ''Past Is Prologue''), hosted by Tony Fletcher, began releasing episodes on June 27, detailing the recording of each song. The final episode was released on September 12. On September 5, the band performed "Catfish Kate" on ''

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' is an American late-night news and liberal political satire talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by Spartina Productions and CBS Studios, it is the second ...

''. The band planned a world tour in support of the album planned for Europe, North America, and Australasia throughout the remainder of 2019 and into 2020. At the Australasian shows, the band were to perform ''Come On Pilgrim'' and ''Surfer Rosa'' in their entirety. These were largely cancelled, however, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

Critical reception

Many considered the album their best since reforming in 2004, but most critics agreed that the album would not win over any fans of the band's earlier work.

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...

described the album as "a no-bullshit sugar-snort of riffs and melodies that neither dip much in quality nor come close to scaling past heights." Many praised the direction into more pop-inspired, mellow tracks.

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

described the album as the "portrait" of the band's "musical progression and an arresting glimpse of the group in this contemporary musical moment."

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described some of the songs as sounding like possible b-sides to their third album '' Bossanova.'' However, in a negative review, ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'' said that although the album is better than many of the bands the Pixies inspired, "it isn't terribly good either."

Track listing

All tracks written by Black Francis, except where noted. #"In the Arms of Mrs. Mark of Cain" – 4:13 #"On Graveyard Hill" (Francis,

Paz Lenchantin Paz Lenchantin (born December 12, 1973) is an Argentine-American musician. She has been the bass guitarist of the alternative rock band Pixies since 2014. She also played bass or strings with various bands, including Entrance, A Perfect Circle ...

) – 3:25 #"Catfish Kate" – 3:08 #"This Is My Fate" – 3:20 #"Ready for Love" – 2:33 #"Silver Bullet" – 3:44 #"Long Rider" (Francis, Lenchantin) – 3:32 #"Los Surfers Muertos" (Francis, Lenchantin) – 2:54 #"St. Nazaire" – 2:27 #"Bird of Prey" – 2:37 #"Daniel Boone" – 4:52 #"Death Horizon" – 2:07 Japanese edition bonus track #

"Caught in a Dream" (Demo) – 2:56 ''Beneath the Eyrie LP 2'' The deluxe boxset edition of ''Beneath the Eyrie'' included a second vinyl, LP 2 (Demos), with nine new demo tracks. The tracks were later made available on streaming platforms. All songs written by Black Francis. #"The Good Works of Cyrus" – 2:08 #"Please Don't Go" – 2:53 #"Chapel Hill" – 1:20 #"Caught in a Dream" – 2:48 #"Mal De Mer" – 2:29 #"Hey, Debussy" – 3:21 #"Under the Marigold" – 3:26 #"How I Learned to Earn Rewards" – 2:57 #"I Just Can't Break It to You" – 3:38

Personnel

Pixies * Black Francis – guitars, lead and backing vocals, songwriting *

– bass guitar, backing and lead vocals, piano, Mellotron, songwriting *

David Lovering David Lovering (born December 6, 1961) is an American musician and magician. He is best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band Pixies, which he joined in 1986. After the band's breakup in 1993, Lovering drummed with several other act ...

– drums, percussion *

Joey Santiago Joseph Alberto Santiago (born June 10, 1965) is a Filipino-American guitarist and composer. Active since 1986, Santiago is best known as the lead guitarist for the American alternative rock band Pixies. After the band's breakup in 1993, Santiag ...

– lead guitar Technical personnel *

–

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, mixing at Psalm Studios in Wiltshire, additional

prepared piano A prepared piano is a piano that has had its sounds temporarily altered by placing bolts, screws, mutes, rubber erasers, and/or other objects on or between the strings. Its invention is usually traced to John Cage's dance music for ''Works for p ...

and percussion *John Davis – mastering at Metropolis *Ken Helmlinger – engineering assistance *Simon Larbalestier – photography *Vaughan Oliver – art direction *Ariel Shafir – engineering *Ian Sopko – engineering assistance *Michael Speed – design

Charts

References

External links

''It's a Podcast''
* * {{Authority control 2019 albums Albums produced by Tom Dalgety BMG Rights Management albums Indie rock albums by American artists Infectious Music albums Pixies (band) albums