Path of Wellness

Path of Wellness is the tenth studio album by the American rock band Sleater-Kinney. The album was released on June 11, 2021 by Mom + Pop Music.[2][3]

Path of Wellness
Studio album by
ReleasedJune 11, 2021
Recorded2020–2021
StudioHafling Studios (Portland, Oregon)
GenrePunk rock[1]
Length38:57
LabelMom + Pop
ProducerSleater-Kinney
Sleater-Kinney chronology
The Center Won't Hold
(2019)
Path of Wellness
(2021)
Little Rope
(2024)
Singles from Path of Wellness
  1. "Worry with You"
    Released: May 11, 2021
  2. "High in the Grass"
    Released: May 26, 2021
  3. "Method"
    Released: June 9, 2021

Background

Following a nine-year hiatus, the American punk rock band Sleater-Kinney announced their return with the track "Bury Our Friends" on October 19, 2014.[4] On January 20, 2015, they released No Cities to Love via Sub Pop Records, the first Sleater-Kinney album since 2005's The Woods.[5] Three years later, singer and guitarist Carrie Brownstein told Pitchfork that Sleater-Kinney was working on a follow-up effort to No Cities To Love, but that they were "going to do this very slowly".[6] In January 2019, Brownstein confirmed to NPR that the album was produced by St. Vincent and would be released later in the year.[7]

On July 1, 2019, drummer Janet Weiss announced over Instagram that she was leaving Sleater-Kinney, saying, "The band is heading in a new direction and it is time for me to move on."[8] Sleater-Kinney's ninth studio album, The Center Won't Hold, was released a month and a half later, on August 16.[9] There was some speculation among fans that Weiss had left Sleater-Kinney due to St. Vincent's involvement in the new record, which Brownstein denied, saying that it was originally Weiss's idea to work with her.[10] Responding to a fan on Instagram, Brownstein added, "She left. We asked her to stay. We tried. It's hard and sad."[11] When Sleater-Kinney went on tour that September to promote The Center Won't Hold, they recruited Angie Boylan of Aye Nako as their touring drummer.[12] That November, Weiss appeared on the Trap Set With Joe Wong podcast, saying that she had left Sleater-Kinney because the "roles changed within the band", and that she was "just the drummer now" as opposed to "a creative equal" with Tucker and Brownstein.[13]

Release and promotion

On May 11, 2021, Sleater-Kinney announced the album title, cover art, and release date for Path of Wellness, and promised their fans "so much more, soon".[14] Accompanying the album announcement was the release of Path of Wellness's lead single and music video, "Worry With You".[15] The video, directed by Alberta Poon, features a young couple, played by Fabi Reyna and Megan Watson, attempting to cohabitate in their undersized house. Tucker and Brownstein make cameo appearances as an actor in a pharmaceutical commercial and as a television fitness instructor, respectively.[16] On May 26, the band released their follow-up single and video to "Worry With You", titled "High in the Grass".[17] Directed by Kelly Sears, the video for "High in the Grass" provides a psychedelic element, with trees with eyes and a number of decapitated figures, both dancing and attempting cardiopulmonary resuscitation, before culminating in a dance party.[18] The final single to be released in advance of Path of Wellness was "Method", which came out on June 9.[19] The song was accompanied by a Lance Bangs-directed lyric video.[20]

To accompany the June 11 release of Path of Wellness, Sleater-Kinney announced a variety show-style livestream on Amazon Music's Twitch channel, beginning at 9 p.m. (ET) on June 10.[21] Hosted by Chris Hewett, the livestream featured "interviews, live performances and a fortune teller weighing in on [the band's] future prospects", as well as a variety of guest appearances from celebrities and musicians such as Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, and Matt Berninger from the National.[21] On June 25, Sleater-Kinney released a live extended play titled Live At The Hallowed Halls, featuring recordings of the four tracks on Path of Wellness that they played during the livestream event.[22] Sleater-Kinney promoted Path of Wellness with two other live and recorded events. On June 16, Sleater-Kinney appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to perform "Worry With You". Rather than playing in front of a live studio audience, the band submitted a pre-taped performance from an abandoned skate park.[23] The next day, Tucker and Brownstein appeared on the Audible service Words + Music to discuss "30 years of shared history making music and making noise".[24]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.1/10[25]
Metacritic78/100[26]
Review scores
SourceRating
The A.V. ClubB[27]
Beats Per Minute58%[28]
Clash7/10[29]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[30]
Exclaim!8/10[31]
NME[32]
Paste7.3/10[33]
Pitchfork6.8/10[34]
Rolling Stone[35]
Under the Radar[36]

Path of Wellness was met with mostly positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, Path of Wellness has an average score of 78 based on 18 reviews.[26] The review aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave the album 7.1 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[25]

Track listing

Path of Wellness track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Path of Wellness"2:40
2."High in the Grass"4:05
3."Worry with You"3:50
4."Method"4:20
5."Shadow Town"5:10
6."Favorite Neighbor"2:49
7."Tomorrow's Grave"3:52
8."No Knives"1:16
9."Complex Female Characters"3:00
10."Down the Line"4:06
11."Bring Mercy"3:49
Total length:38:57

Personnel

Sleater-Kinney

Charts

Chart performance for Path of Wellness
Chart (2021) Peak
position
Scottish Albums (OCC)[37] 22
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[38] 14

References

  1. "Sleater-Kinney AllMusic". AllMusic.
  2. "Path of Wellness by Sleater-Kinney on Apple Music". Music.apple.com. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  3. Claire Shaffer (May 11, 2021). "Sleater-Kinney Return With New Single 'Worry With You'". Rollingstone.com. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  4. Young, Alex; Coplan, Chris (October 19, 2014). "Listen to Sleater-Kinney's new song 'Bury Our Friends'". Consequence. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  5. Pareles, Jon (December 31, 2014). "Sleater-Kinney's Secret Basement Sessions". The New York Times. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  6. Blais-Billie, Braudie (January 10, 2018). "Sleater-Kinney Working on New Album". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  7. Hilton, Robin (January 8, 2019). "New Sleater-Kinney Album, Produced By St. Vincent, Confirmed For This Year". All Songs Considered. NPR. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  8. Gotrich, Lars (July 1, 2019). "Drummer Janet Weiss Leaves Sleater-Kinney". NPR. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  9. Arcand, Rob (August 16, 2019). "Stream Sleater-Kinney's New Album The Center Won't Hold". Spin. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  10. Daramola, Israel (July 29, 2019). "Sleater-Kinney Talk Janet Weiss' Departure and Being Inspired by Rihanna in New Interview". Spin. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  11. Rossignol, Derrick (July 16, 2019). "Carrie Brownstein Says Sleater-Kinney Asked Janet Weiss To Not Leave The Band". Uproxx. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  12. "Sleater-Kinney's new drummer is Angie Boylan (watch their first show together)". BrooklynVegan. September 6, 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  13. Kreps, Daniel (November 20, 2019). "Janet Weiss Opens Up About Sleater-Kinney Exit: 'The Roles Changed Within the Band'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  14. Skinner, Tom (May 11, 2021). "Sleater-Kinney announce self-produced new album Path Of Wellness'". NME. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  15. "Sleater-Kinney share new single Worry With You, announce new album". Louder Sound. May 11, 2021. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  16. Shaffer, Claire (May 11, 2021). "Sleater-Kinney Return With New Single 'Worry With You'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  17. Skinner, Tom (May 26, 2021). "Listen to Sleater-Kinney's riff-heavy new single 'High In The Grass'". NME. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  18. Ehrlich, Brenna (May 26, 2021). "Sleater-Kinney Get 'High in the Grass' in New Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  19. Kenneally, Cerys (June 9, 2021). "Sleater-Kinney release 'Method' as final single from new album". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  20. Blistein, Jon (June 9, 2021). "Sleater-Kinney Ponder Love and Hate on New Song 'Method'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  21. Kaufman, Gil (June 10, 2021). "Sleater-Kinney Drop Brooding 'Method' Single, Announce Livestream Variety Show". Billboard. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  22. Doria, Matt (June 25, 2021). "Sleater-Kinney release Amazon-exclusive EP 'Live At The Hallowed Halls'". NME. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  23. Shaffer, Claire (June 17, 2021). "Sleater-Kinney Perform 'Worry With You' on 'Late Show With Colbert'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  24. Doria, Matt (June 10, 2021). "Sleater-Kinney share new single 'Method', announce livestreamed variety show". NME. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  25. "Path of Wellness by Sleater-Kinney reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  26. "Path of Wellness by Sleater-Kinney Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  27. Rife, Katie (June 11, 2021). "Sleater-Kinney's Path Of Wellness is paved with guitars". The A.V. Club. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  28. Wohlmacher, John (June 14, 2021). "Album Review: Sleater-Kinney  Path of Wellness". Beats Per Minute. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  29. Murray, Robin (June 7, 2021). "Sleater-Kinney  Path Of Wellness". Clash. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  30. Hirsh, Marc (June 11, 2021). "Path of Wellness review: Sleater-Kinney finds the center again". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  31. Sylvester, Daniel (June 8, 2021). "Sleater-Kinney Succeed in People-Pleasing on 'Path of Wellness'". Exclaim!. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  32. Hunt, El (June 9, 2021). "Sleater-Kinney  'Path of Wellness' review: rockers take direct route in tackling our plight". NME. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  33. Schonfeld, Zach (June 16, 2021). "Sleater-Kinney Reinvent Themselves as a Duo on Path of Wellness". Paste. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  34. Kemp, Sophie (June 15, 2021). "Sleater-Kinney: Path of Wellness Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  35. Sheffield, Rob (June 10, 2021). "Sleater-Kinney Roar Back to Life on 'Path of Wellness'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  36. Berlyant, Matthew (June 1, 2021). "Sleater-Kinney: Path of Wellness (Mom + Pop)  review". Under the Radar. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  37. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
  38. "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
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