Just weeks after the shock announcement that founding member Kim Deal had decided to quit the band, the Pixies have released their first new material without their long-term bassist.
While Deal is focussing on her other alt-rock outfit, The Breeders – who will be visiting Australia as part of their 20th anniversary celebrations for Last Splash touring for ATP this Halloween, and booked in for a string of headline shows this October – rumours had circulated that the Pixies had been working on new material.
Those rumours have turned out to be true with the surprise release of ‘Bagboy’, the band’s first new material in nearly a decade, made available as a free download on the band’s official website over the weekend.
Stylistically, it’s a strong return to form for the reunited line-up, to the point that the backing vocals and bassline have drawn some controversy for sounding suspiciously like Kim Deal, but in fact, have been confirmed that it’s just a very good mimic.
The backing vocals in the chorus of the band’s first single since 2004 sound an awful lot like Deal, but as frontman Black Francis reveals in a post on the frankblack.net forums (as Slicing Up Eyeballs points out): “I agree, it does sound a bit like Kim. But it’s my good friend Jeremy Dubs, one of the best people I’ve had the pleasure to know, both socially and professionally.” Dubs, currently the singer for Bunnies, has toured with Pixies and Frank Black in the past as part of The Bennies.
‘Bagboy’ was recorded last October, Francis continues, saying of the Gil Norton-produced track:
The lyrics, coincidentally, were composed at a Starbucks Coffee in Harvard Square in Cambridge, about a hundred feet from where, 25 years ago, I composed some of the lyrics to an old Pixies song called ‘Break My Body.’ Twenty-five years later, some Starbucks in Harvard Square…I thought that was kind of interesting. The music for the song has been around for a few years. There are some demos I made with Joey and David a few years ago in Los Angeles, related to a film idea that still has yet to see the light of day, although work on the music continued. So a lot of the musical idea had been kicking around for awhile. It’s pretty simple, kind of a blues-based, two-note kind of thing, really.”
Francis, along with the rest of the Pixies line-up, who have been performing on and off since reuniting in 2004, first announced the news of Deal’s departure last month, following on from the successful crowdfunding campaign to create a history book on The Pixies.
“We are sad to say that Kim Deal has decided to leave the Pixies. We are very proud to have worked with her on and off over the last 25 years,” read the statement. “Despite her decision to move on, we will always consider her a member of the Pixies, and her place will always be here for her. We wish her all the best.”
The Pixies’ last official single was the 2004 download-only ‘Bam Thwok’, which was written and sung by Kim Deal, after which the alt-rock legends also contributed a cover of Warren Zevon’s ‘Ain’t That Pretty At All’ to the 2004 tribute album Enjoy Every Sandwich.
You can download and listen to ‘Bagboy’ in the widget below:
