Following the release of the track “Bagboy” and the four-track “EP-1,” Pixies deliver again, rolling out “EP-2,” four more brand new songs – “Blue-Eyed Hexe,” “Magdalena,” “Greens and Blues” and “Snakes,” as well as a music video for “Blue-Eyed Hexe.”
The new songs were recorded during October 2012 at Rockfield Studios in Wales, UK, were produced by Gil Norton and written by the Pixies. As with the band’s “EP-1” and “the Bagboy” track, as well as the Pixies’ original classic albums, “EP-2” features special artwork designed by Vaughan Oliver at v23. “EP-2” is available exclusively on the band’s website – pixies music.com – as a DDL (mp3 only), lossless DDL, limited edition 10-inch vinyl, and as part of special bundles.
Pixies will continue their extensive world tour in 2014, kicking off on January 15 with a 33-city North American trek, followed by a series of major South American and European festivals in the Spring and Summer. The festival appearances will include headline slots at Lollapalooza Chile, Lollapalooza Argentina, and Lollapalooza Brazil in April, as well as at London’s “Field Day” in early June. All dates are below.
Pixies talk about the four new songs on “EP-2”
“Blue-Eyed Hexe”
About this track, Pixies’ Black Francis explained, “It’s a tale from the northwestern part of the UK, and it’s a witch-woman kind of a song. That’s what a ‘hexe’ is, and ours is a blue-eyed hexe.” Guitarist Joey Santiago added, “Gil wanted a swagger, he wanted the guitar solo to sound like you’re going to have sex with this blue-eyed hexe.”
“Magdalena”
“This song is so atmospheric,” remembered Santiago. “We had these weird Moog pedals that sounded like water. It was a very mood-based, atmospheric sound, not based on any lyrics or anything.” Added drummer David Lovering, “One of my favorites, maybe tied with ‘Indie Cindy.’ It’s cool the way it flows, and it’s a very simplistic song, very pretty, cool and moving.”
“Greens and Blues”
Said Black Francis, “As with all my songs, I would prefer people add their own interpretation to it. But, in this case, let’s just say that we had done ‘Gigantic’ as the closer for many years at our reunion shows and it worked really well. But I could see that we were going to grow weary of that and I felt like we basically needed a better ‘Gigantic.’ It was my attempt to come up with another song that would – musically, emotionally and psychologically – sit in the same place that ‘Gigantic’ has sat. Not that I could ever replace that song: you write songs and they come out the way they come out. So perhaps it can be said that this song fills the emotional niche that ‘Gigantic’ occupied, another show-closer. I think the lyric alludes to that, the fact that it’s the end of the night, the end of something. And a separation if you will, between the band and the audience. So I guess it’s kind of a goodbye song, or really more of a ‘good night’ song.
“Snakes”
“I’m not a jammer,” said Santiago, “but Black Francis and I started jamming it out. I had this little idea and I did that sliding guitar just to emulate a snake.” Black Francis adds, “This one was totally written in the studio session. It proved to be a little bit difficult to play and a little bit difficult to record, sonically, but we stuck with it and I like the result.”
*****
With many more dates to be announced, the confirmed Pixies 2014 itinerary is as follows:
JANUARY
15 Massey Hall, Toronto, ON CANADA (Fidlar)
16 Metropolis, Montreal, QC CANADA (Fidlar)
18 Orpheum Theatre, Boston, MA (Fidlar)
19 Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY (Fidlar)
21 New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark, NJ (Fidlar)
22 Shubert Theatre, New Haven, CT (Fidlar)
24 Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA (Fidlar)
25 Carnegie Music Hall, Pittsburgh, PA (Fidlar)
26 Strathmore, Washington, DC (Fidlar)
29 National Theatre, Richmond, VA (Fidlar)
31 Durham PAC, Durham, NC (Cults)
FEBRUARY
1 Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, Asheville, NC (Cults)
2 Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN (Cults)
4 Tabernacle, Atlanta, GA (Cults)
6 Peabody Opera House, St. Louis, MO (Cults)
7 LC Pavilion, Columbus, OH (Cults)
8 The Fillmore, Detroit, MI (Cults)
9 Rivera Theatre, Chicago, IL (Cults)
11 Midland Theatre, Kansas City, MO (Cults)
13 Fillmore Auditorium, Denver, CO (Best Coast)
14 Belly Up, Aspen, CO (Best Coast)
15 The Great Salt Air, Salt Lake City, UT (Best Coast)
17 Orpheum Theatre, Vancouver, BC CANADA (Best Coast)
18 Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA (Best Coast)
19 Schnitzer Auditorium, Portland, OR (Best Coast)
21 Fox Theatre, Oakland, CA (Best Coast)
22 San Jose Civic, San Jose, CA
23 The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV (Best Coast)
24 Comercia Theatre, Phoenix, AZ (Best Coast)
25 Kiva Auditorium, Albuquerque, NM (Best Coast)
27 Bayou Music Center, Houston, TX (Best Coast)
28 South Side Ballroom, Dallas, TX (Best Coast)
MARCH
1 Austin Music Hall, Austin, TX (Best Coast)
APRIL
1 Rock’n’Fall, Montevideo, Uruguay
1/3 Lollapalooza Argentina, Buenos Aires, Argentina
3/5 Festival Estereo Picnic, Bogota Colombia
5/6 Lollapalooza Brazil, Sao Paulo, Brazil
MAY
29/30 Primavera Sound, Barcelona, Spain
JUNE
6/7 Primavera Sound, Porto, Portugal
8 Field Day, Victoria Park, London, UK
15 Northside, Arhus, Denmark
20 Best Kept Secret, Hilvarenbeek, Holland
20/22 Hurricane, Schessel, Germany
20/22 Southside, Neuhausen, Germany
25 Inmusic, Zagreb, Croatia
29 Marley Park, Dublin, Ireland (with Arcade Fire)
30 Live at the Marquee, Cork, Ireland
JULY
5 Rock Werchter, Werchter, Belgium
6 Beauregard, Herouville-St. Clair, France
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