The new film about rock band Pavement, titled Pavements, will include the group’s first song in 25 years on its soundtrack.
The part-documentary, part-biopic film premiered on September 3 at the Venice Film Festival, and stars Joe Keery and Jason Schwartzman. It will be released via MUBI in the spring.
Accompanying the film will be an official soundtrack and that will include the first new Pavement song in 25 years.
The band’s Scott Kanneberg (also known as Spiral Stairs), filmmaker Alex Ross Perry and the film’s producer and editor Robert Greene were guests on Vish Khanna‘s Kreative Kontrol podcast this week. Kanneberg revealed: “There will be a new Pavement song on the soundtrack, that’s all I’m gonna give you.”
Perry, the director of the film, added “even I didn’t know that!” – Kanneberg then says, “I just heard a mix of it today, and it’s pretty good.”
Kanneberg revealed that the track is not an official studio recording, but just something they experimented with in rehearsals. He said: “It’s not a big deal. It’s just cool because it’s something different and is a song we all really loved playing.”
The full episode of the podcast is available to stream here. Listen to the clip about the new track below.
The film was first announced in 2022 from Alex Ross Perry – the filmmaker who directed the Pavement musical Slanted! Enchanted!, which premiered in New York in 2022.
In September a clip was shared where Keery and Schwartzman could be seen in their roles. Viewers see footage of a young Pavement complete with a voiceover from Stephen Malkmus. A re-enactment follows, with Stranger Things star Keery in character as Malkmus.
In the clip, he takes a call from Matador Records bosses Chris Lombardi and Gerard Cosloy, played by Jason Schwartzman and Tim Heidecker respectively, who talk to them about performing on Saturday Night Live, hosted by Quentin Tarantino.
Speaking to Vanity Fair ahead of the film’s premiere, Perry gave more of an insight into what fans could expect.
He said: “You’re only going to get to make one Pavement movie. This isn’t Scorsese getting to make his fourth and fifth Dylan film. So why don’t I just make every Pavement movie that I, as a fan, would ever want to watch — or hate-watch.”
