Sleater-Kinney’s new album ‘Little Rope' shaped by grief | AP extended interview

Now a duo of Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker, indie rock band Sleater-Kinney will release their tenth studio album next January. "Little Rope" was written in a place of mourning and meditation — of personal loss and political unease. In the fall of 2022, Brownstein’s mom and stepfather were killed in a car accident while vacationing in Italy. In the months that followed, Brownstein found comfort in returning to playing guitar for hours on end, attracted to the tangibility of the instrument. “I just need to feel my fingers on something that was solid,” she says. “When people leave this Earth, you are aware of what is still here, and what is tactile versus what you’ll never touch again.”

In this extended interview, Brownstein and Tucker sat down in Los Angeles with The AP's Maria Sherman to talk about processing grief through music, the "push and pull" of songwriting and recording, and the evolution of the album's ten songs.

__ In this video __
00:00 - introduction
02:10 - reuniting
04:35 - working with producer John Congleton
06:11 - "Hell"
09:56 - exploring the liminal
13:17 - the 'push and pull' of 'Little Rope'
14:26 - processing grief through music
16:04 - being vulnerable with audiences
18:48 - album evolution
21:25 - "Dress Yourself"
22:43 - easiest songs
24:27 - trimming album
25:20 - working as a duo
27:04 - learning from each other