11:11 (Pinegrove album)

The album was largely recorded at a pair of upstate New York facilities: the Building in Marlboro and at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, an 18-acre complex named for the former drummer of the Band. It was the group's first proper "studio" recording, as all previous releases were recorded in home settings. The band began recording the album in September 2020, The band issued "Orange", the first single from 11:11, on August 25, 2021; an album announcement and pre-order took place on November 11 (or 11:11), alongside the release of second single "Alaska". ==Themes and artwork==

in New York. Singer-songwriter Evan Stephens Hall composed 11:11 at what he called "a real inflection point in my life, where politics became less of a discrete and separate category and more of a superimposition over every aspect of living." Specifically, Hall had grown frustrated with political inaction with regard to racial unrest, mismanagement of the pandemic, and the climate crisis. Consequently, much of 11:11 focuses thematically on the natural world, both celebrating its beauty and destruction at the hands of humanity. Hall intended for the song to function as an overture, introducing the listener to the album's concepts. "Orange" more directly tackles these issues, with its title referring to the smoke-filled hue given to skies over the state of Oregon due to wildfires. It expresses frustration at government passivity, with Hall calling "to affirm community, to step in and help one another cope in the absence of our government, and take seriously the need to organize for a better world." Hall mulls over the pandemic's effect on everyday life in "Respirate", while "Flora" finds the narrator taking a walk in the woods, observing that "nothing's shining like I feel like it should." Madeline Crone at American Songwriter felt that the visual of the title itself evokes a row of pine trees. ==Reception==

11:11 was met with generally favorable reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 73, based on nine reviews. Mark Moody at Under the Radar called it the group's "most urgent" and focused collection, while Hayden Merrick of PopMatters complimented its "urgency and sincerity," considering its focus on nature a welcome respite from emo's typical subject matter. Pitchfork reviewer Peyton Thomas found the album "open-armed [and] inclusive, with instrumentation echoing comfort-food folk and the rootsier elements of recent indie rock." ==Track listing==

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. Locations • Recorded at Levon Helm Studios (Woodstock, New York); The Building (Marlboro, New York); Mex Tex Studios (Woodstock, New York); additional remote recording in home settings Personnel Pinegrove • Evan Stephens Hall – additional engineering, cover painting, design, drums, guitar, percussion, photography, production, songwriting, synthesizer, vocals • Zack Levine – additional engineering, percussion, drums • Joshua F. Marré – additional engineering, guitar, nylon string guitar, processed guitar, slide guitar • Sam Skinner – accordion, bowed bass strings, co-mixing on "Orange" and "11th Hour", electric bass, engineering, guitar, keyboards, organ, piano, production, songwriting, synthesizer, triangle • Megan Benevente – additional engineering, electric bass Additional musicians • Nandi Rose – additional engineering, vocals • Sammy Maine – photography, vocals • Chris Walla – additional engineering, guitars, keyboards, mixing, tambourine • Doug Hall – organ, synthesizer, piano Technical • João Carvalho – mastering • Mira Moore – design ==Charts==