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Jan 04, 2024 By Mark Redfern Photography by Chris Hornbecker

Sleater-Kinney are releasing a new album, Little Rope, on January 19 via Loma Vista. Now they have shared its third single, “Untidy Creature,” via a one-shot video. Nick Pollet directed the video, which stars freediver Amber Bourke as she holds her breath for most of the song. Watch it below, followed by the band’s upcoming tour dates.

The band collectively had this to say about the song and video in a press release: “‘Untidy Creature’ was the first song we wrote for Little Rope, although we didn’t know it at the time; we weren’t certain we were even working on another record. We also worried it had come too easy, the song featured two elements that come very naturally to Sleater-Kinney: a big guitar riff, an even bigger vocal. But as the year wore on, and our choices and bodily autonomy shrank, our feeling about the song changed. It became a gift, somewhere to put our darkest fears, and our deepest hopes. We sometimes feel trapped or angry, and yet still we breathe.

“For the video, we wanted imagery that spoke to the themes which permeate Little Rope: uncertainty, restlessness, urgency, all of the in-between and discomfiting states with which we’re forced to reckon. So, we came up with the idea of a woman holding her breath in a bathtub for the duration of the song, unsure of her motivations, not knowing whether she’s seeking escape, disappearance, absolution, or simply a moment of quiet and reprieve. We love the tension created by an act that defies both custom and comfort.”

Previously Sleater-Kinney shared the album’s first single, “Hell,” via a music video starring Miranda July. Then they shared its second single, “Say It Like You Mean It,” via a video starring J. Smith-Cameron of the hit HBO show Succession.

Sleater-Kinney are Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker. John Congleton produced Little Rope, which was recorded at Flora Recording and Playback in Portland, Oregon.

Little Rope is partially influenced by the death of Brownstein’s mother and stepfather in a car accident while vacationing in Italy and the grief that followed.

A press release explains in more detail: “Although some of the album had already been written, aspects of each song—a guitar solo, the singing style, the sonic approach—were pulled into a changed emotional landscape. As Brownstein and Tucker moved through the early aftermath of the tragedy, elements of what was to become the emotional backbone of Little Rope began to form—how we navigate grief, who we navigate it with, and the ways it transforms us. The result is a collision of certainty and uncertainty evident from the first few spare seconds of the record’s opening track and first single, ‘Hell.’”

“I don’t think I’ve played guitar that much since my teens or early twenties,” Brownstein says of the months following her mother and stepfather’s deaths. “Literally moving my fingers across the fretboard for hours on end to remind myself I was still capable of basic motor skills, of movement, of existing.”

Of working with Congleton, Tucker says: “We’ve actually wanted to work with John for a long time, but it wasn’t until this record that the stars aligned and we made it happen.”

Sleater-Kinney’s last album, Path of Wellness, came out in 2021 via Mom+Pop. Path of Wellness followed 2019’s The Center Won’t Hold, which landed them on one of the two covers of our My Favorite Album Issue, in which we interviewed each of them about The Center Won’t Hold and their all-time favorite album.

In 2022 they released Dig Me In: A Dig Me Out Covers Album, a cover version of their 1997 album, Dig Me Out, featuring St. Vincent, Wilco, Courtney Barnett, and many more.

Sleater-Kinney Tour Dates:

02/28/2024 - San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park
02/29/2024 - Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl
03/01/2024 - Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre
03/02/2024 - Albuquerque, NM @ El Rey Theater
03/04/2024 - Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom
03/05/2024 - Dallas, TX @ Studio at the Factory
03/06/2024 - Austin, TX @ ACL Live at the Moody Theater
03/08/2024 - New Orleans, LA @ Joy Theater
03/09/2024 - Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern
03/11/2024 - Norfolk, VA @ The NorVa
03/12/2024 - Washington, DC @ The Anthem
03/13/2024 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
03/14/2024 - Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
03/16/2024 - New York, NY @ Racket *SOLD OUT*
03/17/2024 - Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club *SOLD OUT*
03/18/2024 - Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts *SOLD OUT*
03/20/2024 - Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall
03/21/2024 - Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre
03/22/2024 - Madison, WI @ The Sylvee
03/23/2024 - St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre
03/25/2024 - Kansas City, MO @ The Truman
03/26/2024 - Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom
03/28/2024 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern
03/29/2024 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Belasco
03/30/2024 - San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
03/31/2024 - San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
04/02/2024 - Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
04/03/2024 - Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
04/04/2024 - Vancouver, BC @ The Vogue
04/05/2024 - Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom *SOLD OUT*

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