11:11 (Pinegrove album)

Background

The album was largely recorded at two upstate New York facilities: the Building in Marlboro and Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, an 18-acre complex named for the former drummer of the Band. Recording began in September 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, with Hall, Levine, and Skinner convening at Levon Helm to record basic tracks while other contributors visited for a day at a time. 11:11 is the first Pinegrove album to feature bassist Megan Benavente, who recorded her sections remotely from Los Angeles and sent improvisational bass parts that the band assembled into melodic lines.

Seeking a messier sonic texture than previous releases, the band enlisted Chris Walla, former Death Cab for Cutie member, to mix the album at his Seattle studio. Hall summarized the album's themes as balancing optimism and community with the idea that people may need to be their own salvation. The first single, "Orange", was issued on August 25, 2021; the album was announced on November 11 alongside the second single "Alaska".

Themes and artwork

Evan Stephens Hall composed 11:11 at what he called a real inflection point where politics became a superimposition over every aspect of living, frustrated by inaction on racial unrest, pandemic mismanagement, and the climate crisis. Much of the album focuses on the natural world, celebrating its beauty and destruction by humanity. The opener "Habitat" runs six minutes and functions as an overture. "Alaska" takes place on an airplane with a sleeping pilot flying diagonally across America, describing grids of trees and cornfields repeating like numerical patterns; Hall called it a pre-emptive mourning of landscapes amid climate change and likened the aircraft cabin to a metaphor for pandemic time.

"Orange" refers to smoke-filled skies over Oregon due to wildfires, expressing frustration at government passivity and calling for community organization. "Respirate" mulls the pandemic's effect on everyday life, while "Flora" finds the narrator walking in the woods observing that nothing is shining as it should. The album's title is a palindrome, and the cover artwork depicts the title between squares, reflecting the band's interest in symmetry and geometry.

The green sleeve marks a move toward secondary colors, a concept Hall adopted from fan speculation that creatively worked within the album's climate themes.

Reception

11:11 received generally favorable reviews, with a Metacritic average score of 73 based on nine reviews. Marcy Donelson at AllMusic gave it four stars, praising Hall's bittersweet melodies and internal rhymes.

Paste's Ben Salmon highlighted the harmonies and slide guitar work, calling it an addition to Pinegrove's impressive catalogue. Mark Moody at Under the Radar deemed it the group's most urgent and focused collection, while Hayden Merrick of PopMatters noted its urgency and sincerity. Pitchfork's Peyton Thomas described the album as open-armed and inclusive.