Old Friends (Pinegrove song)

"Old Friends" was penned by Pinegrove frontman Evan Stephens Hall, who also performs the breadth of its instrumentation; on the track, he sings, plays guitar, percussion, banjo, keyboards, bass, and is credited with its recording and mixing.

"[4] It was, like much of Cardinal, inspired by evening walks around Brookdale Park in his hometown of Montclair, New Jersey;[6] the song's opening lyrics detail its "familiar sidewalk cracks and dogwood trees.

[9] The studio version of the track premiered on Stereogum, an online music magazine, on January 5, 2016; in addition, the post announced the band's second album, Cardinal.

"[4] Collin Brennan at Consequence of Sound too praised this duality, extolling the song as a "gem": "it bears listening to with the volume turned all the way up," he wrote.

[11] Spin's Colin Joyce felt the song's abstract observations conceal its "heartbreaking" realization to "call my parents when I think of them" and "tell my friends when I love them.