Pedro The Lion Shares New Single “Model Homes”

We’re just over a month away from Pedro The Lion’s first album in 15 years, Phoenix, out Jan. 18 via Polyvinyl Records. The veteran Seattle band fronted by songwriter David Bazan has already shared the momentous single “Yellow Bike” and follows it up today with the powerful new song “Model Homes.”

As Phoenix sees Bazan looking back at his earliest years growing up in the Arizona capitol, “Model Homes” opens up with familiar sights and details of suburban childhood. But more than just being nostalgic, Bazan taps into the middle-class longing for something more. The act of touring model homes is one of ambition. It’s a means to live out a fantasy, a daydream with built-in air conditioning. For any kid that was dragged along these tours with their parents, they might relate to the suffocating feeling of preoccupying yourself with creating static electricity on new carpets and trying to find ways to pass time in an empty home. More than that, young Bazan’s mind turns to his own future. A desire for a home of his own, sure, but mostly companionship.

“I wanna live with someone else, give them my whole self,” Bazan sings before belting, “I wanna not be lonely.”

Little moments like these can feel passing and fleeting – a moment in time to be forgotten in the grand scheme of our lives. Yet Bazan taps into that aching feeling passed down from generations. Wanting something more, worried you’ll not get anything, and afraid you’ll be alone.

Stream “Model Homes” below and watch Pedro The Lion’s in-studio from 2017 below.