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Sep 05, 2019 By Christopher Roberts Sleater-Kinney

Sleater-Kinney released a new album, The Center Won’t Hold, last month via Mom + Pop (stream it here). Now they have shared a video for “Can I Go On.” The video stars Lauri Guzda and Mami Kimura, who at first are engaged in a civilized tea date before things turn towards mud wrestling. The band’s Carrie Brownstein came up with the video’s concept and Ashley Connor directed the black & white clip. Watch it below, followed by the band’s upcoming tour dates.

Brownstein had this to say about the video in a press release: “Within the broader thematic context of The Center Won’t Hold album, we wanted the video to speak to an existence that has been fractured and frayed by age or by loss, by divisive politics, by trauma or depression. We aimed to showcase the female body as a place of resistance, to explore how much it can withstand trespass, sorrow, and chaos. The body, then, becomes a site of transformation, repurposing invisible wounds and wear into kinetic energy and power. The women in the video display modes of strength and joy in ways we do not traditionally see.”

Also, we previously posted our review of The Center Won’t Hold and you can read that here. The album was also our Album of the Week.

The Center Won’t Hold finds the band experimenting with a slightly more polished sound, thanks to producer St. Vincent (aka Annie Clark), and on a new label in Mom + Pop. After the album was announced, drummer Janet Weiss unexpectedly announced at the start of July that she was leaving Sleater-Kinney only a month and a half before their new album was to be released. That leaves Brownstein and Corin Tucker as the sole members.

Prior to the announcement of The Center Won’t Hold, Sleater-Kinney shared the album’s first single “Hurry On Home” via a Miranda July-directed lyric video for the track (it was one of our Songs of the Week). When the album was announced they shared its second single, “The Future Is Here,” which was also one of our Songs of the Week. Then they stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to perform “Hurry On Home,” in what might be Weiss’ last public performance with the band.

Then they shared the album’s title track, “The Center Won’t Hold,” which was also one of our Songs of the Week. Then they shared “Can I Go On,” via a lyric video (it was also one of our Songs of the Week). Then they shared a video for them performing the album’s closing track “Broken” live, with just Brownstein on keyboards and Tucker standing next to her singing. When the album was released, album track “Reach Out” also made our Songs of the Week list.

In a previous press release Brownstein also had this to say about recording the album: “Instead of just going into the studio to document what we’d done, we were going in to explore and to find the essence of something. To dig in deeper. It felt like a really crucial part of the process itself, not just the end game.”

Sleater-Kinney North American Tour Dates:

09-05 Raleigh, NC - Hopscotch Music Festival
10-09 Spokane, WA - Fox Theater
10-11 Boise, ID - Knitting Factory Boise
10-12 Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot
10-13 Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre
10-15 Minneapolis, MN - Palace Theatre
10-16 Milwaukee, WI - The Riverside Theater
10-18 Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre
10-19 Chicago, IL - Riviera Theatre
10-20 Louisville, KY - Old Forester’s Paristown Hall
10-21 Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium
10-23 Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle
10-25 Washington, DC - The Anthem
10-26 Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE
10-27 Philadelphia, PA - The Fillmore
10-29 Boston, MA - House of Blues
10-30 Brooklyn, NY - Kings Theatre
10-31 New York, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom
11-01 Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall
11-03 Toronto, Ontario - Rebel Complex
11-04 Detroit, MI - Majestic Theatre
11-05 St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
11-07 Houston, TX - House of Blues
11-08 Dallas, TX - House of Blues
11-09 Austin, TX - ACL Live at The Moody Theater
11-11 Phoenix, AZ - The Van Buren
11-12 San Diego, CA - The Observatory North Park
11-13 Santa Ana, CA - The Observatory OC
11-14 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Palladium
11-16 Oakland, CA - Fox Theater
11-17 Oakland, CA - Fox Theater
11-19 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
11-20 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
11-21 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
11-23 Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre
11-24 Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre

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