With its atmospheric musicality and mysterious lyricism, Pixies’ new album “The Night the Zombies Came” offers the perfect unsettling fall playlist for the alternative-rock lover. 

While Pixies have already impressed with its 37 years of history-making alternative rock, the band continues to amaze in its newest album, which was released Oct. 25. The album is comprised of 13 songs, taking under 40 minutes to listen to the entire album.

Throughout the album, Pixies take the audience from one extreme to another, bouncing from chill acoustics and the deep, molasses-smooth vocals of frontman Black Francis — born Charles Thompson — to punchy, angsty romp and stomps. Despite the fluctuation of styles, the mood remains characterized by fall-like mysticism. 

The first track on the album, “Primrose” takes the listener into imagery reminiscent of the dark whimsy of old European folktales with lyrics that evoke images of John Everett Millais’ painting “Ophelia.”

The calmness of the first song in the album is juxtaposed with the quick punchiness of “You’re So Impatient,” which follows. Lyrics describing a “medieval town” with “dungeons,” “mutton” and “mead” again elicit images of the Middle Ages but this time with angst and a fast tempo.

This back and forth of pace only progresses throughout the album, along with Halloween-like themes like being lost in the woods, sinister nature, zombies, death, gore, hexes and tombs.

One standout song from the album was “Mercy Me” with its catchy guitar, thought-provoking lyrics and Black Francis’ smooth vocals, which are highlighted by the slowness of the song.

“Motoroller” also displays the interesting lyricism of the band with lines such as,  “First you run out of time / Then you run out of space / It’s like watching a line erased / First your tongue is tied / Then your words collide / Just right when you found your place.”

The song “Chicken” also stands out with its absurd and extensive mutilated poultry similes, warping guitar and gorgeous chorus — “Sometimes I feel like a chicken / Pecking my way through the trees / When something aloft cuts my head right off / Now I’m dealing with decapitation.”

Throughout the album, one cannot help but be reminded of the 2014 fall classic musical cartoon, “Over the Garden Wall” as the show shares similar themes of dark, medieval-esque thrills and has its own cast of deep, smooth-voiced singers: Jack Jones and Jerron ‘Blind Boy’ Paxton.

With its unique sound and character, “The Night the Zombies Came” provides the perfect start to the week of Halloween.

“The Night the Zombies Came” is available to stream on Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music and YouTube Music.