Described as “detailed and evocative” (Pitchfork) as well as “sweeping and surprisingly beautiful” (NPR) by the press, Pile’s latest album All Fiction feels like a landmark in the band’s evolution. Sixteen years since the project’s inception and the band’s creative focus remains their driving force, reshaping their sound in pursuit of texturally rewarding music. There’s a sense of discovery that permeates through All Fiction, it’s the start of a new chapter. While many had come to expect Pile’s music to be heavy and abrasive, the band has proven themselves equally adept at building atmosphere and surrealist tranquility. They eschew stagnancy by leaning into experimental soundscapes, rewarding their open-mindedness with the ambitious structures, alternate tunings, and the wrought tension that Pile has become synonymous with over the years.
Pile – the trio of Rick Maguire, Kris Kuss, and Alex Molini – found inspiration in the studio while working on All Fiction, working tirelessly to record, experiment, manipulate, mutate, and layer the songs with lush orchestration, haunting synths, and abstract textures. Challenging the confines of the standard “rock band,” they took inspiration from artists like Portishead and Aphex Twin, reigniting their passion as they explored their sound in a new realm. The sessions resulted in a flutter of productivity and before the band knew it they had completed well over a dozen songs, stretching far beyond the confines of a single LP’s runtime. After much deliberation, songs were pulled from the record, never a “trimming of the fat” but more of a consideration of which songs were able to stand best on their own.
With the band’s US tour currently underway, Pile announce their next release, Hot Air Balloon EP, a collection of five songs recorded during the All Fiction sessions. Set for release on January 5th, 2024, the record captures the band experimenting in all directions, from the direct to the further abstract. Following the release of “Scaling Walls,” a song Paste Magazine called “a contemplative slow-burn,” the band introduce the EP with the quasi title track, “The Birds Attacked My Hot Air Balloon,” a song that finds Pile in a more surrealist state, the meditative composition bristling with shuffling rhythms and brilliantly disorienting synths.
