Pixies announce new album ‘The Night the Zombies Came’ + share new song “Chicken”

Today, the Pixies have announced that their brand new album, The Night the Zombies Came, will be released on October 25h via BMG — just in time for Halloween.

Thirty-five years since their groundbreaking album Doolittle catapulted the band to stardom, and 20 years since their celebrated reformation at Coachella, the Pixies are deep into their second act and show they still pack a creative punch.

The Night the Zombies Came marks their tenth studio album and first since 2022’s Doggerel. Songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist Black Francis explains, “Fragments that are related and juxtaposed with other fragments in other songs. And in a collection of songs in a so-called LP, you end up making a kind of movie.”

Alongside the album announcement today, the Pixies have shared a brand new single, “Chicken.” The track finds songwriter Black Francis personifying poultry, dealing with decapitation, and feeling like an actor in Zombies movies as Joey Santiago’s impulsive lead guitar takes flight.

Listen to “Chicken” below and pre-order The Night the Zombies Came here.

The Night the Zombies Came will also include “You’re So Impatient,” the brand-new single with AA-side “Que Sera, Sera.”

For the new album recording sessions, the Pixies returned to work with producer Tom Dalgety, who drummer David Lovering refers to as “a fifth Pixie” after producing 2016’s Head Carrier, 2019’s Beneath the Eyrie and 2022’s Doggerel. Early on in the recording process at Guilford Sound studio in Vermont, the band noticed the new songs were dividing into two camps: what they came to call the “Dust Bowl Songs” – country-tinged, balladesque numbers such as “Primrose” and “Mercy Me,” and on the other side, the album’s furious punk numbers such as “You’re So Impatient” and “Oyster Beds.” Only “Jane (The Night the Zombies Came)” keeps its feet in both camps — reminiscent of early ‘60s Phil Spector, the band hitting the sweet spot between mushy and abrasive, it’s a track that Black Francis allegedly likened to being chased by a swarm of bees.

The Night the Zombies Came sessions also saw Pixies welcoming new bass player Emma Richardson (Band Of Skulls) to the lineup, the first British band member to join the Pixies.  There’s also an expanded role for guitarist Joey Santiago. After contributing his first-ever Pixies lyrics on Doggerel, for the new record, Santiago wrote the words to “Hypnotised” by completing a complex lyrical riddle of sorts, known as a sestina.

The news of The Night the Zombies Came arrives amidst a packed touring schedule set to take in circa 70 live shows worldwide through 2024 – with even more dates to be announced for 2025. The band just wrapped a tour across North America with Modest Mouse and Cat Power and is playing through Europe before returning to the U.K. in August for a run of already sold-out headline shows at Glasgow Academy and Halifax’s Piece Hall. Major festival performances at London’s All Points East, Victorious, and headline shows at Galway Airport, Belfast’s Custom House Square, and Dublin’s RDS Simmonscourt are all scheduled.  

Tour dates:

JULY

24 Razzmatazz, Barcelona, Spain [SOLD OUT]

26 Low Festival, Benidorm, Spain [FESTIVAL]

28 Noches Del Botánico, Madrid, Spain [SOLD OUT]

30 Lété Au Chateau, Provence, France [SOLD OUT

 

AUGUST

1  OpenLucht Theater Goffert, Nijmegen, Netherlands [SOLD OUT]

2  OpenLucht Theater Goffert, Nijmegen, Netherlands [SOLD OUT]

4  Ronquieres Festival, Braine-le-Comte, Belgium [FESTIVAL]

5  Lokerse Feesten, Lokeren, Belgium [FESTIVAL]

7  Den Atelier, Luxembourg [SOLD OUT]

8  Musik Im Park, Schwetzingen, Germany10  Forum Karlin, Prague, Czech Republic  [SOLD OUT]

13 House of Culture, Helsinki, Finland [SOLD OUT]

14  House of Culture, Helsinki, Finland [SOLD OUT]

16  Parkenfestivalen, Bodø, Norway [FESTIVAL]

17  Stereo Festival, Trondheim, Norway [FESTIVAL]

20  Academy, Glasgow, UK [SOLD OUT]

21  Piece Hall, Halifax, UK [SOLD OUT]

23  All Points East, London, UK [FESTIVAL]

24  Victorious Festival, Portsmouth, UK [FESTIVAL]

25 Rock en Seine, Paris, France [FESTIVAL]

27  Galway Airport, Galway, Ireland

28  Custom House Square, Belfast, UK [SOLD OUT]

29  RDS Simmonscourt, Dublin, Ireland

 

2024 Auckland and New Zealand Tour w/ Pearl Jam

NOVEMBER

8  Go Media Stadium Mt Smart, Auckland, New Zealand [SOLD OUT]

10  Go Media Stadium Mt Smart, Auckland, New Zealand

13  Heritage Bank Stadium, Gold Coast, Australia [SOLD OUT]

16  Marvel Stadium, Melbourne, Australia [SOLD OUT]

18  Marvel Stadium, Melbourne, Australia

21  Giants Stadium, Sydney, Australia [SOLD OUT]

23  Giants Stadium, Sydney, Australia