Sleater-Kinney released their first album as a duo and Carrie Brownstein is opening up about the new version of the group and the intention behind the new project.
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The new album Path Of Wellness was released last month and is the first release since the 2019 departure of longtime drummer Janet Weiss. Fans had many speculations regarding Weiss' departure and title of the last album, The Center Won't Hold, but Brownstein says she and Corin Tucker are solely focused on finding their center, feeding their need to stay busy and making the best music they can.
"Janet was such an integral part of the band... The years that she was in the band were so important to me and I think important to a lot of people," Brownstein told Audacy New Arrivals host, Bryce Segall. "It was just really about re-calibrating what it meant to be Sleater-Kinney.... Corin and I have such a long-standing bond and friendship and I don't feel like we wanted to do anything that felt reactionary."
She continued, "It was more that we felt so lucky, like, 'we still have this entity, it's going to be different and we kind of have to tear the band-aid off in terms of people thinking that there's kind of this cloudified version of what the band is.'"
Path Of Wellness acted as a positive focus for both Brownstein and Tucker amidst the pandemic in 2020. Brownstein espressed great gratitude for having multiple projects, like the new album, to keep her busy while she learned to appreciate slowing down.
"I was lucky that I have things to do," she shared of keeping busy during the pandemic. "But as everyone knows, there's just no simple equation just because you're doing something or just because you're physically going through the motions. It was a difficult time... I'm not great with sitting still, but I'm learning how to do it. I do appreciate it, I do like time off and I try to not work all of the time because there are plenty of other things to do."
As for the new album, Brownstein says she's trusting in the music and letting go, allowing people to accept it, or not.
"To have the patience, or just the ability to trust that it's not necessarily about finding people where they are now. You will find some people where they are now, and you will find some people where they are in three years or ten years," she said. "As a person putting things out, I think you just have ti let go. Be like, 'Hey! here ya go, enjoy it, or don't. We'll see ya next time, or not...' There is just that time you have to not worry about it."
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