Frank Black Says ‘Head Carrier’ Is the Pixies’ ‘Comeback Record’

Even though 2014's Indie Cindy was the Pixies' first record since 1991's Trompe le Monde, to Frank Black, the reboot begins now. In a new interview, the band's frontman said that their new album, Head Carrier, is really the start of a new chapter.

"When we made Indie Cindy, we were aware that it was going to be broken up into EPs," he told Rolling Stone. "But I think that Joey [Santiago] and David [Lovering] felt like we needed an LP's worth of material. We went to a studio, hung out for a couple of months, and had a pile of songs this high. The EP thing was something the manager came up with. At the end of the day, we just want to make music. We don't get involved with the other things."

At the time of Indie Cindy's recording, Kim Deal had just left the band and Simon "Dingo" Archer played bass in her stead. Now, Paz Lenchantin has been installed in the group, and Black noted the effect her arrival has had on the group.

"She's very excited to be in our midsts," he continued. "We kinda, especially me, had to lose any kind of tired cynicism we might have about the whole thing. You don't want to project that onto some new person that's all excited to be in our band. We gotta be like, 'Oh, yes! All right! Here we go!' It's been nice to be like, 'This is an exciting time and we've got something positive going on here.'"

Another new person in their camp is Tom Dalgety, who became the first person to produce a new Pixies record since Gil Norton signed on for their sophomore effort, 1989's Doolittle. Between the two changes, the group feel like they're starting fresh, even though they reunited back in 2004 after 11 years apart.

"This was feeling very much like our comeback record as opposed to Indie Cindy, which felt like a transitional moment even when we were making it," he continued. "This time, we felt like we wanted to get out of our comfort zone. I think working with a different producer certainly ticked a lot of boxes in terms of getting out of our comfort zone."

Head Carrier will be released Sept. 30. You can check out the most recent single, "Talent," here.

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