Need 2
| "Need 2" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Pinegrove | |
| from the album Mixtape Two Everything So Far | |
| Released | May 29, 2014 |
| Genre | |
| Length | 3:11 |
| Label | Run for Cover |
| Songwriter(s) | Evan Stephens Hall |
| Producer(s) | Evan Stephens Hall |
"Need 2" is a song recorded by the American rock band Pinegrove. The song was first released on May 29, 2014, and later re-released as a single on June 15, 2023.[1]
Background
"Need 2" was performed, recorded, and co-mixed by Evan Stephens Hall, the chief force behind Pinegrove. In 2014, the band had released one album and several extended plays, including &, which caught the ear of a listener in Canada. This fan contacted Hall to suggest releasing a cassette of the EP, with a brand-new EP encompassing side two. Hall challenged himself to write another series of songs with the same runtime, leading to the development of "Need 2".[2] The song opens with a field recording of birds before segueing into a droning, despondent guitar riff. In a Reddit r/IAmA , Hall mentions his satisfaction with the original recording, which was made in his bedroom,[2] noting that while other songs in their catalogue have been re-interpreted over time, "Need 2" gets it right.[3] In the same thread, he reveals the song is a mediation on songwriting itself;[4] he expanded on the song's influences in a Rolling Stone piece some time later:
"I was just sort of bummed out, spaced out, bored, those classic early-Green Day tropes. And then, too, this is really a song about songwriting, ultimately, and just trying to spur myself on. [...] I was also reading a lot of Lydia Davis at the time, who’s known for flash fiction, I guess you could say, or prose poetry. So I was interested in writing songs that just had a single idea in them. And there are few lyrics in this song. It's pretty much just like, 'OK, and here I am, a human on this Earth; everything's a little bit fucked right now, and yet I am compelled to make things. Why is that? Isn't that strange? Why do I seem to need to?'"[2]
"Need 2" debuted as a part of that digital EP, Mixtape Two, first self-released on Bandcamp on May 29, 2014. At the time, Hall aimed to be conversational in his lyricism, more direct and to-the-point than concerned with interlocking themes, as in his past work. With Mixtape Two, he said: "That was a real turning point. It allowed me to move towards simplicity. Because complexity is a little bit of a defense mechanism."[5] "Need 2" was later included as a part of the band's early-career compilation, Everything So Far, first self-released on CD-R and cassette in 2014 and later widely released through Run for Cover in 2015.[6]
Release and reception
Jeff Ihaza from Rolling Stone viewed the song as "palpably moody".[2]
The song was the subject of a viral TikTok dance in 2023 dubbed the "Pinegrove Shuffle".[7] In the aftermath of the song's exposure, the band uploaded a lyric video of the song to YouTube, edited by Rena Johnson;[8] they also released a digital single of the song with three different versions of the song (a slow version, a sped-up version, and a "hyperspeed" version),[9][10] owing to a larger TikTok trend of uptempo remixes of popular songs.[11]
Personnel
Credits adapted from Mixtape Two on Bandcamp.[12]
Pinegrove
- Evan Stephens Hall – guitar, vocals, songwriting, production, mixing
Production
- Nick Levine – mixing
- Zack Levine – mixing
- Sam Skinner – mixing, mastering
Charts
| Chart (2023) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[13] | 12 |
References
- ^ Dunworth, Liberty (June 16, 2023). "Pinegrove Shuffle TikTok dance trend sees band re-release 'Need 2'". NME. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
- ^ a b c d Ihaza, Jeff (June 15, 2023). "Pinegrove Went on Hiatus ... Then Went Viral on TikTok". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
- ^ "Dive into anything". Reddit. March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
- ^ Brusie, Chaunie (June 14, 2023). "Where did the Pinegrove Shuffle dance on TikTok come from?". In The Know. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
- ^ "Pinegrove on How Being a Good Artist and a Good Person Are the Same Thing". Pitchfork. December 16, 2016. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
- ^ Joyce, Colin (October 6, 2015). "Pinegrove Sign to Run for Cover, Reinvent Optimist Rock on 'New Friends'". SPIN. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
- ^ Marcin, Tim (June 12, 2023). "TikTok's strange 'Pinegrove Shuffle' trend, explained". Mashable. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
- ^ "Pinegrove – Need 2 (official lyric video)". YouTube. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
- ^ Rettig, James (June 15, 2023). "Pinegrove Re-Release "Need 2" After Pinegrove Shuffle TikTok Dance Trend". Stereogum. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
- ^ "Need 2 – EP by Pinegrove". Apple Music. June 15, 2023. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
- ^ Demopoulos, Alaina (January 10, 2023). "Why is Spotify full of faster versions of pop hits? Let's bring you up to speed". the Guardian. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
- ^ "Mixtape Two, by Pinegrove". Pinegrove. May 29, 2014. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
- ^ "Hot Rock & Alternative Songs: Week of July 8, 2023". Billboard. Retrieved July 5, 2023.