Burn, Don't Freeze: Sleater-Kinney On Making Art In The Midst Of Change
Sleater-Kinney got a new beginning a few years ago. In 2006, the trio — guitarists Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein and drummer Janet Weiss — announced a hiatus, after half a dozen albums that had made it one of the most respected and beloved rock bands around. In 2015, that hiatus ended with No Cities to Love, a comeback record whose warm reception was a reminder that the band's influence had only grown in its years away.
The new album The Center Won't Hold, out today, is a fresh chapter of its own. It introduces new song structures and strange new sounds under the guiding hand of producer Annie Clark, long known for playing the studio like an instrument in her own music as St. Vincent. But it is also the end of an era: In July, with recording complete and the release date weeks away, Weiss announced her decision to leave the band.
Tucker and Brownstein, who started Sleater-Kinney together in 1994, are continuing without her, beginning with a tour of the new album this fall. They joined NPR's Rachel Martin to discuss the ups and downs of creating , whose songs cast an uneasy gaze on technology, social media and present-day political discourse. Hear the radio version at the audio link, and read more of their conversation below.
