"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.
Background Much of 11:11 consists of concise, mid-tempo songs, save for its opener, "Habitat", which runs six minutes long. Hall intended for the song to function as an overture, introducing the listener to the album's concepts. It is both the oldest and most recent song recorded for the album: the song has roots in a mid-2010s demo 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"; 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 —monuments to the past torn down, vandalized, & thrown to the waves, making much needed room for new symbols to ornament our world with." 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." The song intermittently shifts to "angrier blasts of grungy guitar and drums." The song uses field recording of birds, as well as in-studio noise, such as "shifting feet, buttons or pedals, and amplifier hum."
In an interview, Hall expounded on these themes within "Habitat":
Release and reception Rough Trade issued "Habitat" as the fourth single from 11:11 on January 26, 2022, two days before the release of the album. That same day saw the debut of the song's music video, directed by Brian Paccione.
Ben Salmon at Paste interpreted the song as ruminating on American decline. Marcy Donelson of AllMusic praised Hall's "simultaneously poetic and direct way with words."
Credits Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.
Locations Recorded at Levon Helm Studios (Woodstock, New York); The Building (Marlboro, New York); Mex Tex Studios (Woodstock, New York); additional remote recording in home settings
Personnel
Pinegrove Evan Stephens Hall – additional engineering, drums, guitar, percussion, photography, production, songwriting, synthesizer, vocals Zack Levine – additional engineering, percussion, drums Joshua F. Marré – additional engineering, guitar, nylon string guitar, processed guitar, slide guitar Sam Skinner – accordion, bowed bass strings, electric bass, engineering, guitar, keyboards, organ, piano, production, songwriting, synthesizer, triangle Megan Benevente – additional engineering, electric bass
Additional musicians Nandi Rose – additional engineering, vocals Sammy Maine – photography, vocals Chris Walla – additional engineering, guitars, keyboards, mixing, tambourine Doug Hall – organ, synthesizer, piano
Technical João Carvalho – mastering
References