It’s been 14 years since we’ve heard new music from Pedro The Lion. While the band has always been just the moniker of Seattle-based songwriter David Bazan with a rotating cast of musicians, his break from his old name mirrored some major changes in his life – perhaps most notably the loss of his religion. After a series of remarkably confessional solo albums that saw him breaking up with God and searching for meaning as a world citizen, Bazan now returns to the name. And in that spirit, he’s continuing to look back with the project’s forthcoming album, Phoenix, out Jan. 18 via Polyvinyl.
Phoenix chronicles some of the earliest years of Bazan’s life, growing up in the suburbs of Arizona. The past came rushing back to him as he found himself back in his old home while on a recent solo tour, spending the night in his grandparents’ home and stopping by his old childhood house. With the first single, “Yellow Bike,” Bazan takes us back to his youth and sets the scene of life in the Grand Canyon State. He sings about learning to ride his first bike, the feeling of freedom riding alone, parallels it this is adulthood driving his tour van across the highways, and details the loneliness of riding alone. It culminates a quintessential Bazan one-liner, “I’d trade my kingdom for someone to ride with.”
Listen to “Yellow Bike” below and pre-order Phoenix now.
David Bazan discusses taking up his old moniker once again, the next five Pedro albums, and utilizing his platform to bring attention to white male privilege and abuse against women.
The harsh cold air bites at my hands as I walk toward the Tractor Tavern to see Pedro The Lion play their first Seattle show in 11 years. The harshness of freezing breeze turns my thoughts to Pedro The Lion's "The Longest Winter." "In time memories fade, senses numb," the young David Bazan sings on…
David Bazan's Pedro the Lion project returns after an eleven year absence. Playing three shows at the Tractor Tavern in December.
