| Habitat | |
| Border: | yes |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Pinegrove |
| Album: | 11:11 |
| Label: | Rough Trade |
| Prev Title: | Respirate |
| Prev Year: | 2022 |
"Habitat" is a song recorded by the American rock band Pinegrove. The song was released on January 26, 2022, through Rough Trade, as the fourth single from the band's fourth studio album 11:11. It was written by singer-songwriter Evan Stephens Hall.
Much of 11:11 consists of concise, mid-tempo songs,[1] save for its opener, "Habitat", which runs six minutes long.[2] Hall intended for the song to function as an overture, introducing the listener to the album's concepts.[3] It is both the oldest and most recent song recorded for the album: the song has roots in a mid-2010s demo[4] that Hall re-discovered and wrote new lyrics to reflect his present feelings. The back half of "Habitat" is technically a different song according to the song's tablature, available on the band's website, titled "Precipice";[5] this piece was written in the studio to complement the original song. This section ends with Hall "Never forget, the t-shirt says/With no mask on." In a statement, Hall spoke on the song's meaning: "'Habitat' collages imagery from across the 2020's—monuments to the past torn down, vandalized, & thrown to the waves, making much needed room for new symbols to ornament our world with."[6] In the song's opening lyrics, over acoustic guitar, Hall sings: "It’s so still, how’d you do that? You settled down my habitat."[7] The song intermittently shifts to "angrier blasts of grungy guitar and drums."[8] The song uses field recording of birds,[9] as well as in-studio noise, such as "shifting feet, buttons or pedals, and amplifier hum."[8]
In an interview, Hall expounded on these themes within "Habitat":
Rough Trade issued "Habitat" as the fourth single from 11:11 on January 26, 2022, two days before the release of the album.[6] That same day saw the debut of the song's music video, directed by Brian Paccione.[10]
Ben Salmon at Paste interpreted the song as ruminating on American decline.[11] Marcy Donelson of AllMusic praised Hall's "simultaneously poetic and direct way with words."[8]
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[12]
Locations
PersonnelPinegrove
Additional musicians
Technical