Path of Wellness

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Path of Wellness
Studio album by
Sleater-Kinney
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

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]

Background[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

Sleater-Kinney

Charts[edit]

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

References[edit]

  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. ^ a b 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. ^ a b "Path of Wellness by Sleater-Kinney reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  26. ^ a b "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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