<p><span><span><em>- The Path of Wellness</em> is the tenth album from punk legends <strong>Sleater Kinney</strong>, hastily released just a month after it was announced. It’s been quite a feat of longevity from guitarists and singers <strong>Corin Tucker</strong> and <strong>Carrie Brownstein</strong>, who first met in the riot grrrl explosion of women-focused punk bands in the early 90’s. Over two and a half decades they have survived the decline of that scene, the breakup of their own romantic relationship, the demands of motherhood and careers, and the changing tides of fashion. To complete this album required navigating the COVID pandemic, the chaos of US politics, a mixed audience response to their last album and the subsequent departure of long term drummer <strong>Janet Weiss</strong>.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>While that album <em>The Centre Won’t Hold</em> had been a sharp musical left turn, this one is restrained but familiar. Self-produced by the pair, the classic Sleater Kinney elements are present in Brownstein’s angular guitar and Tucker’s powerful howl - plus simple thumping drums that make the absence of Weiss not felt too strongly.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>They respond pretty bluntly to the criticism of the previous album with the songs <em>No Knives</em> and <em>Complex Female Characters</em>, though I have to say these tracks are hardly album highlights. More interesting is how the band react to recent political circumstances. Their hometown of Portland, made famous partly by Brownstein’s gently mocking TV series <em>Portlandia</em>, went from hippy liberal hamlet to seeming harbinger of the apocalypse last summer - as bushfires surrounded the city and police clashed with protestors on a daily basis.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span><em>The Path of Wellness</em> makes repeated references to these events – “<em>It’s not the summer we were promised, it’s the summer that we deserve</em>” goes <em>Down The Line</em>; “<em>How did we lose our city? Rifles running through our streets</em>” opens <em>Bring Mercy</em>. These are just two examples among many.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Sleater-Kinney’s response is interesting – rather than harnessing the righteous fury of the protestors, the album is notably sedate. “<em>Bring mercy, bring love / Pack your bags with things to lift you up”</em> sings the closing track; while <em>Method</em> proclaims “<em>I'm singing a song about love and you're singing about hate.”</em> <em>Down The Line</em>, <em>Worry With You</em> and <em>Shadow Town</em> all reference dark times, but seek deliverance not in a revolution but in a loving relationship.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Interestingly, the response seems to mirror that of another legend of 90’s alternative music and feminism in <strong>Ani Difranco</strong>. Difranco’s album from this year <em>Revolutionary Love</em> responded to the zeitgeist but came as a voice of moderation. Guess that’s what happens when you survive long enough to become the wisened elders surrounded by young firebrands. </span></span></p>
<p><span><span>The album’s best moments are also its most joyous. Lead single <em>Worry With You</em> is an ode to the abandon of love. <em>Let’s get lost baby, take a wrong turn”</em> sings its chorus, and the film clip is a great depiction of a couple going stir crazy in lockdown but surviving.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>That image of journeying together through difficult times is an interesting image in relation to <em>The Path of Wellness</em>. It’s not going to go down as a classic like their thrilling 90’s high point <em>Dig Me Out</em>, but there’s something about the relationship a listener can build with this band over a quarter century of great music and forthright lyrics that keeps the album interesting. How they reference personal and social circumstances, how the sound evolves (including seldom-heard bass guitar on several songs!), how these musical elders fit with the sounds and ideas of today; these factors make new music from Sleater-Kinney an exciting proposition. </span></span></p>
<p><span><span>In a world ever connected but so divided, <em>The Path of Wellness</em> is an ode to genuine connection.“<em>Spent the season sad and haunted…” </em>they sing, “<em>Take my hand and dance me down the line”.</em></span></span></p>
<p><span><span>- Andy Paine.</span></span></p>
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