Sleater-Kinney takes their own Path on new album
Mellow and heavy, fuzzy and sharp, equivocally written but also straightforward, indie rock duo Sleater-Kinney returns with a new edge for their tenth studio album.
Bandmates Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein pieced together this project over the past year in Portland, facing the angst prompted by major events making scene in their own backyard and reaching for humanity through it all. They step back into making music with political, social and emotional themes, confronting change and finding one’s self.
Fans were caught by surprise when S-K made the announcement of a release set just in time for summer — and many were unsure what it was going to sound like.
But, following the announcement of the new album, fans were given a little taste with the lead single called “Worry With You” and a music video. It’s a groovy, catchy jam that invokes feelings of joy and care with someone loved — a promising intro to a new phase for the band.
With only eleven tracks, the album runs though quickly. The 39 minutes feel short, it will take a few listens and some extra reading to really appreciate what has been put forth by the band.
The title track kicks off the album with a slow start. It fades into the background with the repeating lines of “You can never love me enough” and “I’m on a path of wellness,” but also works to set the theme and the sound of the album.
Following after, “High In The Grass” offers a sharp twist with it’s psychedelic sound. Corin’s vocals stand out harmoniously in this track. Much of the new songs here allow for Corin and Carrie to stretch their vocals and display variety in their singing.
One highlight in their singing style is the dueling vocals. While not every song features it, the track “Favourite Neighbour” does a great job with presenting both of their voices equally. They also incorporate more electronic distortion in this song and in many other tracks . The blown-out guitars give a dramatic sound, appropriately fitting the distressing events that inspired this album.
Like “Tomorrow’s Grave,” an apocalypse-style song that alludes to the wildfires that engulfed California and Oregon last autumn. They wrote, “The scent of the wind, it is filled with our sins,” and “The ashes of promises never fulfilled,” it’s another song they’ve written about climate change, this time around, it reflects on fail and collective loss to the catastrophe.
Feminist commentary makes a return into the songwriting with “No Knives” and the following track. Barely longer than a minute, “No Knives” is a critical allegory about how artists are cornered to oblige into making their art comfortable for their audience. The messaging follows into the next track “Complex Female Characters,” a song that uses the perspective of a person who pretends to be an ally when situations and characters are fictional but wouldn’t feel the same if presented to in real life — a critique about how many people are comfortable with being disingenuous.
The events that happened in Portland last summer hit home for the duo. The songs “Shadow Town” and “Bring Mercy” song paint an emotional picture of the struggle that was breaking out on the streets in downtown where intense change happened seek out for some love and humanity.
Similar to their albums in the past, this one ends in the a familiar way with “Bring Mercy” and “Down The Line.” The final tracks wrap together the themes and conclude with a reflection on all that’s happened from the past year. It asks questions on where to go on from now, and suggest to bring an open heart and mind.
The album’s high points are definitely “Worry With You,” “Favourite Neighbour,” “High In The Grass,” “Shadow Town” and “Tomorrow’s Grave.” Some tracks may be forgettable unfortunately. The strength is in the songwriting, it tries to stay unique and original which saves itself from falling into clichés.
But there are parts of the album that highlight the shortcomings in similar ways that their previous album The Center Won’t Hold did. Some tracks suffer from awkward repetition; such as “Complex Female Characters” and “Shadow Town.” Also on “Method,” where most of the song just sounds like a mixture of synonyms. This shouldn’t detract from the meanings of the songs but it’s hard to overlook.
While most of the messages and lyrics have clear allusions to events, it’s not so direct. It doesn’t have to sound like a pandemic-inspired album if you don’t listen for it. Since much of the themes stem from interpersonal relationships, introspection and fear, the sounds and words are subjective to the listener’s mood and are open to interpretation.
There aren’t too many cathartic moments, some of the tracks are quite somber, while others are melodious. The album also doesn’t pack as much of a punch as many hoped for, S-K is known to get loud and animated in their studio recordings.
Overall, the duo could have benefited from a producer to give some refinement and fresh ears to the album’s production. But both Corin and Carrie have expressed that they were both content with the sounds that they were able to put together themselves. Their sound feels more genuine and are able to express their real feelings on topics they feel so strongly about in this album. Which I will concede, it does add a level of appreciation to the album, but it still makes you feel like wanting more.
This album sparks a new era for the S-K moving forward. It’s the first project the band has done without their core drummer Janet Weiss in over 20 years. With the album’s more softer edges, it seems more fitting for the now older and mature band members and fanbase — with some younger Millennials and Gen Z in the mix. These new songs aren’t as thrash to perform compared to their work in decades past, and fans aren’t into moshing or getting as wild. It introduces a new atmosphere while still works to maintain the essence their music always had. While this album may be polarizing for a lot of fans, the messaging in Path Of Wellness has never been more uniting as ever before.
And I’m excited to see what the new energy will be at future concerts when they tour for this album. The live reproductions that were streaming at the album’s release and elsewhere are extremely promising.
If you haven’t heard of Sleater-Kinney before, the band is known from coming together during the early 1990’s when the Riot Grrrl genre, a style of punk rock that was founded on establishing a female presence in punk, was forming — this is where the third wave feminist movement began. Carrie is also famously known from starring on IFC skit show Portlandia with co-star Fred Armisen.
While S-K will always be known as Riot Grrrl band, Path Of Wellness doesn’t really fit into this genre sonically — but neither did some of their past albums. It’s definitely an indie rock album, but that’s pretty much it. This album is not the best way to get introduced to Sleater-Kinney, and it’s also a little difficult to love after being hooked onto the sounds from their earlier works. At the same time, I don’t believe it’s fair to compare this to their 2019 release The Center Won’t Hold, or label some of the tracks on the new album as leftovers from that. Die-hard fans of the band are still recovering from the artistic shift that Annie Clark introduced on the previous album, and some are tepid to embrace the new album.
This release gets a 7.3/10. If you have not heard their music before, listen to No Cities To Love and The Woods first to accompany the listening experience for Path Of Wellness.
It’s an album that’s best played to relax to, to have in the background or passively listen to — it’s certainly not bad thing. It takes an ear of appreciation get in the groove of the new album. While not every fan needs to welcome this shift, it’s the way the band seems to be heading, and they appear to be enjoying themselves as they continue to evolve. Their creative fluidity and originality make the listening experience more pleasurable.
Sleater-Kinney’s Path Of Wellness was made available June 11 on most streaming platforms, and is selling copies on CDs, coloured vinyl records and a boxset though their website.
