PINEGROVE Announce new feature film and soundtrack Amperland, NY Out Friday 15 January

Pinegrove have revealed details of a new feature length film, Amperland, NY, and accompanying soundtrack album to be released on Rough Trade / Remote Control on January 15th. The film, scripted from a short story by Pinegrove’s Evan Stephens Hall and directed by Kenna Hynes, was filmed at the band’s long time home in upstate New York, known as “Amperland” to Pinegrove and their fans, prior to the house being sold by the owner earlier this year. The band will screen a ticketed online premiere for fans as a fundraiser for environmental action group The Sunrise Movement on January 14th at 10am AEST for a donation of $5.00 and over. The screening will be followed by a band Q&A moderated by Busy Philipps. Tickets for the screening are available now at Pinegroveband.com along with pre-order for the soundtrack album.

The film, produced in conjunction with Chromeoscope, and described by Evan as “fun, hopefully poignant, definitely weird ”, includes 22 songs – a full set list length of performances – spanning the band’s entire career to date. Those new renditions of old gems, recorded as live in the Amperland house by Pinegrove’s Sam Skinner, will be released as a soundtrack album –  also titled Amperland, NY –  at the same time as the film. Evan explains the film as “threaded by a surreal, giddy narrative – reimaginings of our catalogue and first-time-imaginings of Pinegrovian tall tales.” The band viewed the project as a way of honoring the house that had acted as home, recording studio and important creative haven for their last two albums: Skylight (2017) and Marigold (2020). The news comes with the release of one of the songs from the project: a new live version of ‘Morningtime (Amperland, NY)’, which originally appeared on Pinegrove’s 2012’s self-released debut, Meridian, and reissued on Everything so Far (2015).

The band’s last studio album, Marigold, was released to critical acclaim in January 2020 and led the New York Times to describe them as, “The only male fronted band that matters right now.” Going on to say, “There are very few bands doing what Pinegrove are doing and connectin.”

Formed in 2010 by childhood friends Evan Stephens Hall and drummer Zack Levine, Pinegrove have released four albums —Everything So Far, Cardinal, Skylight, and Marigold (2020) — to widespread critical acclaim, garnering them a growing and devoted listenership. They’ve described their sound as variously as ‘introspective party music’, or ‘energetic music in the folk tradition’; in any case, they have combined catharsis and inventive structures with irrepressible melodies, resonant lyrics and emotive twang.

Zack describes Pinegrove as “a constellation of soulmates.” Zack and Evan have known each other for 26 years and been playing music together for 21, communicating via a “telepathic musical connection.” Nearly everyone they work with are friends and collaborators from way back. Amperland, NY features Evan, Zack, Josh Marre, Megan Benavente, Sam Skinner as well as appearances from Nandi Rose,Nick Levine, Michael Levine and Doug Hall. Sam also engineered and co-produced the record, as he has on every Pinegrove recording since 2015.