When Corin Tucker and Carrie Brownstein began working on the latest Sleater-Kinney album, “Little Rope,” they pictured an album that was more outward-facing. Their previous record, 2021’s “Path to Wellness,” had been made during the pandemic and had been sculpted more by the isolated circumstances.
So for “Little Rope,” Tucker and Brownstein’s 11th album together and the fourth since reforming the influential indie rock band, “we wanted to make songs that were about personal things, but also things that people would sing along to,” Tucker said earlier this month during a tour stop in Arizona. “And we wrote a lot — more than we recorded — and recorded more than we put on the album, because we wanted to make something as outward-facing as possible.”
The two vocalists and guitarists were writing, recording and developing the album when tragedy hit in 2022: Brownstein’s mother and stepfather had been killed in a car accident while in Italy. It was devastating news, but Brownstein confronted grief through her music and found solace in the creative space with Tucker.
As Sleater-Kinney finished “Little Rope,” grief and loss — along with how to navigate sorrow with the found family around you — added a new layer to the album. Many of the tracks on “Little Rope,” which was released in January, touch on personal loss but the band also faces down societal injustices, self-doubt and a spiraling world.
The songs came from “where we’re at as people,” Tucker said. “Unfortunately, the theme of loss runs through the album, but I think that’s what people experience more as we get older.”
“Death and grief is what we experience, and it reminds us to enjoy what we have in the present,” she added.
Sleater-Kinney is spending March and April on the road — they played New Orleans on March 8 at the Joy Theater — performing most of the tracks off “Little Rope” along with songs pulled from their catalogue. The band formed 30 years ago in Olympia, Washington (Tucker and Brownstein are both now based in Portland, Oregon), and released seven acclaimed records before going on hiatus in 2006. Sleater-Kinney reformed in 2014.
Grief is inseparable from the making of “Little Rope,” but “the music and the live shows, they’re always a place of joy,” Tucker said.
“I think that we’ve felt this album has hit people in a way that’s very personal, and they see themselves in the album,” she added. “Everyone is going through a lot of different things and feeling this need of community, especially after going through the pandemic.”
A lot of the story of “Little Rope” also is about finding comfort in the friends surrounding you. After Brownstein received the heavy news in 2022, Tucker helped her carry the load. Does she have any advice for people who want to help a close friend in grief?
“I think my only advice is to show up,” she said. “Everyone’s experiences are different. For Carrie, she wanted to work on music. I waited to see when she was ready and see if we could work on something we both felt invested in. And sometimes that’s all your friend needs: ‘Hey, I’m here. Do you want to go for a walk? Do you want me here?’ One of the best things you can do is just be there.”
Sleater-Kinney is currently on tour. Find “Little Rope” at sleater-kinney.com. The band also recently released the EP "Frayed Rope" featuring alternative versions of three tracks.
