Sleater-Kinney have announced their 11th studio album, Little Rope, arriving next year on January 19 via Loma Vista.
The new record — the band's second since the departure of drummer Janet Weiss — is being previewed with the bruising "Hell," which comes attached to an intense, intimate video directed by Ashley Connor and starring Miranda July.
Recorded with John Congleton at Flora Recording and Playback in Portland, Little Rope was partially inspired by the sudden deaths of Carrie Brownstein's mother and stepfather, who were killed in a car accident while on vacation in Italy in November of 2022.
A press release about the album elaborates:
In the autumn of 2022, Carrie Brownstein received a call from Corin Tucker, who herself had just received a call from the American embassy in Italy. Years earlier, Brownstein listed Tucker as her emergency contact on a passport form, and while she had since changed her phone number, Tucker had not. The embassy staff were desperately trying to reach Brownstein. When they finally did, they told her what happened: While vacationing in Italy, Brownstein's mother and stepfather had been in a car accident. Both were killed.
The record was partially written before the tragic loss of Brownstein's family members, though "aspects of each song — a guitar solo, the singing style, the sonic approach — were pulled into a changed emotional landscape."
Little Rope is described as being about "how we navigate grief, who we navigate it with, and the ways it transforms us." It's the follow-up to 2021's Path of Wellness.
Watch the video for "Hell" below, along with the Little Rope tracklist.
Little Rope:
1. Hell
2. Needlessly Wild
3. Say It Like You Mean It
4. Hunt You Down
5. Small Finds
6. Don't Feel Right
7. Six Mistakes
8. Crusader
9. Dress Yourself
10. Untidy Creature
The new record — the band's second since the departure of drummer Janet Weiss — is being previewed with the bruising "Hell," which comes attached to an intense, intimate video directed by Ashley Connor and starring Miranda July.
Recorded with John Congleton at Flora Recording and Playback in Portland, Little Rope was partially inspired by the sudden deaths of Carrie Brownstein's mother and stepfather, who were killed in a car accident while on vacation in Italy in November of 2022.
A press release about the album elaborates:
In the autumn of 2022, Carrie Brownstein received a call from Corin Tucker, who herself had just received a call from the American embassy in Italy. Years earlier, Brownstein listed Tucker as her emergency contact on a passport form, and while she had since changed her phone number, Tucker had not. The embassy staff were desperately trying to reach Brownstein. When they finally did, they told her what happened: While vacationing in Italy, Brownstein's mother and stepfather had been in a car accident. Both were killed.
The record was partially written before the tragic loss of Brownstein's family members, though "aspects of each song — a guitar solo, the singing style, the sonic approach — were pulled into a changed emotional landscape."
Little Rope is described as being about "how we navigate grief, who we navigate it with, and the ways it transforms us." It's the follow-up to 2021's Path of Wellness.
Watch the video for "Hell" below, along with the Little Rope tracklist.
Little Rope:
1. Hell
2. Needlessly Wild
3. Say It Like You Mean It
4. Hunt You Down
5. Small Finds
6. Don't Feel Right
7. Six Mistakes
8. Crusader
9. Dress Yourself
10. Untidy Creature