Pixies Accompany Announcement Of Their Upcoming Album With Track ‘Chicken’, An Atmospheric Exploration Of The Bleakness Of The Human Condition

Pixies announced the release of their upcoming album ‘The Night The Zombies Came’ (via BMG on October 25) alongside their haunting new single, ‘Chicken’. 

Exploring the bleakness of the human condition through the images of zombies to poultry, the track is a complete contradiction to the sound of the previously released single, ‘You’re So Impatient’ - it’s plodding, bleak, and drenched in existentialism. 

Francis sings, “Sometimes I feel like a chicken / Peckin’ my way through the trees / When something aloft cuts my head right off / Now I’m dealing with decapitation,” imagery that haunts the listener (meat-eater or not). The cold lyrical imagery does not stop here, as the singer later likens the song’s protagonist to that of an actor in a zombie movie, aimlessly searching for a lover that won’t kill them - a search for comfort in a world of isolation and danger - with vocals steeped in desperation and longing. 

The slow, blues-laden sound differs from their usual sound. Yet, it doesn’t entirely depart from what fans expect from Pixies - it’s still raw with hints of the surreal woven into the atmospheric sound perpetuated by Santiago’s haunting lead guitar that guides the song to its ending. The fact it differs greatly from the up-tempo sound of ‘You’re So Impatient’ shows just what the band is still capable of. 

Megan-Louise Burnham

@mgn.lb

Image: ‘The Night The Zombies Came’ Official Album Cover