Sunshine and Balance Beams
| Sunshine and Balance Beams | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 15, 2025 | |||
| Genre | Rock[1] | |||
| Length | 42:03 | |||
| Label | Sooper | |||
| Pile chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Sunshine and Balance Beams | ||||
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Sunshine and Balance Beams is the ninth studio album by American indie rock band Pile.[2] It was released on August 15, 2025, via Sooper Records in LP, CD, cassette and digital formats.[3]
Background
The first album by the band released through Sooper, Sunshine and Balance Beams was preceded by its 2023 project, All Fiction.[4] It consists of ten tracks ranging between two and five minutes each, excluding "Balance Beams", which has a length of under one minute, and "Meanwhile Outside", which features approximately eight minutes of runtime.
"Born at Night" was released as the first single on May 13, 2025, alongside a music video directed by Josh Echevarria.[4][5] It was followed by "Uneasy" and "Bouncing in Blue", the second and third singles, on June 10 and July 15, 2025, together with music videos directed by Stefan Fernandez.[3][6]
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| New Noise |    [1] |
| Pitchfork | 7.9/10[7] |
Margaret Farrell of Stereogum described Sunshine and Balance Beams as "a Sisyphean concept album" that is "lyrically built around plunging us into a dense forest with the hope we'll reach relief and replenishing light after we make it out" and "isn't easy listening, but that's what makes rewards feel so earned."[8]
The album received a 7.9 rating from Pitchfork, whose reviewer Zach Schonfeld referred to it as "undoubtedly a Pile album" and "how well it traverses both paths, restoring the pummeling post-hardcore roar that fans have missed while integrating it with swooning strings and pockets of tenderness" as "impressive, even a bit confounding."[7]
New Noise assigned the album a 3.5-star rating and described it as feeling "like a point of revisitation which nonetheless proceeds on a new path rather than merely retracing old footprints" and resonating "as a work deeply rooted in Pile's collective legacy, with the potential to serve as an artistic address to longtime supporters and new fans alike."[1]
BrooklynVegan referred to the album as "just Pile staying true to what they've always believed in most, and continuing their ever-gradual evolution in the process," commenting that it "has nothing to do with the increased interest in '90s nostalgia."[9]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Balance Beams" | 0:58 |
| 2. | "An Opening" | 3:09 |
| 3. | "Deep Clay" | 4:13 |
| 4. | "A Loosened Knot" | 5:19 |
| 5. | "Bouncing in Blue" | 5:37 |
| 6. | "Uneasy" | 2:35 |
| 7. | "Holds" | 4:15 |
| 8. | "Born at Night" | 5:29 |
| 9. | "Meanwhile Outside" | 8:18 |
| 10. | "Carrion Song" | 3:10 |
| Total length: | 42:03 | |
Personnel
Credits adapted from Bandcamp.[10]
Pile
- Matt Connery – guitar, production
- Kris Kuss – drums, auxiliary percussion, production
- Alex Molini – bass, synthesizer, Rhodes, piano, production
- Rick Maguire – vocals, guitar, synthesizer, production (all tracks); string composition (tracks 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 10)
Additional contributors
- Candace Clement – background vocals
- Eden Rayz – string composition and arrangement (tracks 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 10), cello
- Greg Martin – string composition and arrangement (track 10)
- Josh Knowles – violin
- Francesca Caruso – violin
- John Snyder – violin
- Anna Stromer – viola
- Kira McSpice – cello
- Miranda Serra – recording, production
- Seth Manchester – mixing
- Alex Molini – additional editing
- Matt Colton – mastering
- Mark Lapriore – photography
- Izzi Vasquez – album layout
References
- ^ a b c Hale, Allen (August 14, 2025). "Album Review: Pile – Sunshine and Balance Beams". New Noise. Retrieved August 17, 2025.
- ^ Hakimian, Rob (May 14, 2025). "Pile meditate on the darkness of existence on "Born at Night", announce new album". Beats Per Minute. Retrieved August 17, 2025.
- ^ a b Kelly, Tyler (July 15, 2025). "Pile relinquish control on new track, "Bouncing in Blue"". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved August 17, 2025.
- ^ a b Chelosky, Danielle (May 13, 2025). "Pile Announce New Album Sunshine and Balance Beams: Hear "Born at Night"". Stereogum. Retrieved August 17, 2025.
- ^ Sacher, Andrew (May 13, 2025). "Pile announce new album Sunshine and Balance Beams & tour with NNAMDÏ". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved August 17, 2025.
- ^ Kelly, Tyler (June 10, 2025). "Pile reference "Rock-a-bye Baby" lullaby with new track, "Uneasy"". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved August 17, 2025.
- ^ a b Schonfeld, Zach (August 15, 2025). "Pile: Sunshine and Balance Beams". Pitchfork. Retrieved August 17, 2025.
- ^ Farrell, Margaret (August 12, 2025). "Album of the Week: Pile Sunshine and Balance Beams". Stereogum. Retrieved August 17, 2025.
- ^ Sacher, Andrew (August 15, 2025). "Pile – Sunshine and Balance Beams (Sooper)". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved August 17, 2025.
- ^ "Sunshine and Balance Beams | Pile". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on May 14, 2025. Retrieved August 18, 2025.