The Pixies are back with their first album in 23 years.

‘Indie Cindy’ is the fifth studio album by the American alternative rock band and the first not to feature bass guitar player Kim Deal, who left in 2012.

Lead guitarist Joey Santiago explains why it took them so long to make a new record: “We don’t have a boss, I think we treat the audience like our boss, we think (about) what they want. With social media you kind of get that right away and after a while they just started (saying), ‘We want a new record, we want a new record’ so it started happening, right? So we gotta listen to the boss.”

The album combines all the songs from the band’s last three extended play releases, recorded in 2012 by veteran Pixies producer Gil Norton.

It has received mixed reviews by critics. While some have called it “stale”, others say that, at its best, the album is “free-sounding, adventurous and explosive”.

The Pixies are currently touring Australia, before heading to Europe and Israel.