Maryland trio PINKSHIFT recently announced their new album EARTHKEEPER, which arrives August 29 via Hopeless Records. Pre-order it here.
Today, the band has shared the video for the uptempo, punk rock anthem “Vacant.” Watch the late-night dance party, inspired by a surprising source, here.
“For ‘Vacant,’ we drew upon our ever-present punk influences to create a sound that feels familiar while also introducing concepts new to us,” the band states. “Though we’re no strangers to breakdowns, the one in this song was inspired by grunge jam sections rather than hardcore/metalcore, and ended up becoming of the grooviest parts we’ve ever written.”
The band finishes, “‘Vacant’ is cheeky, urgent, and energetic, and we wanted to reflect that visually with a lighthearted, un-serious music video. Inspired by Beyonce’s ‘7/11’ video, it showcases the three of us and our two touring members, Michael and Kirby, just hanging out. A simple concept, but it captures our genuine selves connecting and reconnecting with the song and each other as we have a late-night dance party.”
Pinkshift have also announced their upcoming tour and in-store activities around album release on the east coast and in their native Baltimore. All upcoming appearances and dates are below.
EARTHKEEPER TRACK LISTING:
“Love It Here”
“Anita Ride“
“Evil Eye“
“Don’t Fight”
“Patience”
“Spiritseeker”
“Blood”
“Freefall”
“Suspended”
“Reflection”
“Vacant”
“Something More”
IN-STORE APPEARANCES:
8/27 — Rough Trade — New York, NY (6pm)
8/28 — Repo Records — Philadelphia, PA (7pm)
8/30 — Sound Garden— Baltimore, MD (4pm)
PINKSHIFT ON TOUR:
9/27 — Brooklyn, NY — Under the K Bridge Park
10/4 — Baltimore, MD — The Amphitheatre at the Inner Harbor
10/10 — Asbury Park, NJ — Asbury Lanes
10/11 — Richmond, VA — Richmond Music Hall
10/12 — Carrboro, NC — Cat’s Cradle Backroom
10/14 — Atlanta, GA — The Masquerade
10/15 — Orlando, FL — Conduit
10/17 — Houston, TX — White Oak Music Hall
10/18 — Austin, TX — The Ballroom
10/19 — Dallas, TX — Club Dada
10/21 — Phoenix, AZ — Rebel Lounge
10/22 — San Diego, CA — The Voodoo Room
10/23 — Santa Ana, CA — Constellation Room
10/24 — Los Angeles, CA — The Echo
10/25 — San Francisco, CA — Bottom of the Hill
10/27 — Portland, OR — Polaris Hall
10/28 — Seattle, WA — Neumos
10/30 — Salt Lake City, UT — Kilby Court
11/01 — Denver, CO — Marquis Theater
11/02 — Lawrence, KS — Bottleneck
11/04 — Minneapolis, MN — 7th Street Entry
11/05 — Chicago, IL — Bottom Lounge
11/07 — Detroit, MI — The Sanctuary
11/08 — Cleveland, OH — Mahall’s
11/09 — Pittsburgh, PA — Thunderbird Music Hall & Café
11/11 — Toronto, ON — Hard Luck Bar
11/13 — Boston, MA — Brighton Music Hall
11/14 — Hamden, CT — Space Ballroom
11/15 — Philadelphia, PA — First Unitarian Church
11/16 — Washington, DC — Atlantis
ABOUT PINKSHIFT + EARTHKEEPER:
During a pit stop while travelling between shows in 2023, Pinkshift found a huge fallen redwood tree. Vocalist Ashrita Kumar (they/them), guitarist Paul Vallejo (he/him), and drummer Myron Houngbedji (he/him) lay down on the trunk, staring up at the canopy of leaves from the trees around them. What followed is an experience Kumar describes as almost psychedelic. They felt as if the trees were inviting them to stay there forever. “I heard these voices telling me that I’m welcome here,” they recall. “And everything I could ever want is in this space.”
Earthkeeper is a record that bursts at the seams with big riffs, big feelings, and big ideas. At its core is a spiritual being whose name gives the record its title — “a reflection of universal consciousness and a protector of existence.” It’s a patchwork of anxiety, angst, grief, and hope, juggling experiences both personal and existential across themes such as loss, one’s individual purpose, and what it means to watch the notion of a stable life collapse before your eyes.
Crucially, Ashrita, Paul, and Myron are not the same people that they were when they made their 2022 debut Love Me Forever. They’ve grown, matured, and been altered by experience. They crafted their debut at a time where they didn’t have as much experience playing live as they do now. “The first album was influenced a lot by stuff we grew up listening to because we’d never really toured,” offers Myron. “It’d really cool that now, after all this touring, there’s bits and pieces of all these bands we wouldn’t otherwise have listened to that have weaved their way into our songwriting.”
Lumped in with an emerging pop-punk resurgence at the turn of the decade that they never quite identified with, they’ve broken out of those confines by writing a significantly heavier record that could not fall under that umbrella in almost any possible way. In some ways, this was a product of their evolving tastes, and a more accurate reflection of who they are musically.
All three of them brought new influences into the studio. “Myron and I got really into Loathe and Knocked Loose,” adds Paul. “It inspired me to pick up the baritone guitar that I had, playing in lower tunings. I love the direction that the metal scene is going in and if I could reflect that in any way with respect to the guitar playing that was going on, I’d jump at every opportunity.”
If there was a mission statement to Earthkeeper, this would be it. They stand for unity, collectivity, community, and action, but above all, the Maryland trio are hoping their new songs can have a more personal, emotional resonance too. “I think with this record, I’m trying to inspire you to, give a fuck,” Ashrita concludes. “You’re worth giving a fuck about. I feel like people don’t give a fuck about themselves but in the same way those redwood trees told me I’m welcome here, you matter and you belong here.”
Leave a Reply