Sleater-Kinney shed further light on forthcoming album 'No Cities To Love' • News • DIY Magazine

The return of Sleater-Kinney is probably the most exciting thing to happen since Cadbury’s resurrected the Wispa bar. Actually, scrap that, it’s way more exciting still. Their first album in ten years, ‘No Cities To Love’ is out on January 19th via Sub Pop, and in the meantime the band stopped by NPR to talk about the new record, as well as the process of bringing the band back together. The recorded interview also includes audio previews of album cut ‘Surface Envy’ (19:19) as well as lead single ‘Bury Our Friends’ and album title track ‘No Cities To Love’ (32:39).

The decision to reunite, the band explain, didn’t come out of grand discussions or debates. Actually, Carrie Brownstein was just round Corin Tucker’s house watching Carrie’s comedy show ‘Portlandia’ together. “We were talking about playing music …” says Corin, “and I said, …’I wonder if we’re ever gonna do a Sleater-Kinney show again?

“We had two people in the room who are known fans of the band,” continues Carrie. “One is Corin’s husband, Lance Bangs, and the other is [Carrie’s Portlandia Co-Star] Fred Armisen, who was a fan of the band long before he and I worked together…They were very encouraging, and I think just wouldn’t let that conversation die…It was something that began percolating then. We talked to Janet [Weiss] and, you know, the conversation started.”

“We started the band so young, and everything that we wrote about, all the different parts of our lives, and all the different characters that we drew, I think they’re really kind of special,” says Corin Tucker, “they obviously touched people really deeply.” Janet Weiss agrees. “I guess as far as young versus old, I don’t really feel like I’ve said it all, and I’m comfortable, and I’m sort of ready to kick my feet up. I feel like there’s a lot left to do… and if we’re gonna do this, the three of us, let’s make it off the charts.”

Expanding on the writing process, Carrie says “We wrote in my basement. It took on many permutations, and eventually we settled on a process that was a little more akin to what we had done in the early years, partially because Corin and I had to kind of reacquaint ourselves to the very specific vernacular that she and I speak, musically. And so, [she] and I would work on songs and then bring them to Janet, instead of jamming … It’s almost telepathic. I think that Corin and I can complete each other’s musical sentences in a way that never ceases to surprise me.”

To listen to the entire interview, and hear snippets of ”No Cities To Love’, ‘Surface Envy’ and lead single ‘Bury Our Friends’, head to NPR.

You can also listen to ‘Bury Our Friends’ below”

Tags: News, Sleater-Kinney