It’s been less than two months since Sleater-Kinney released their new album, The Center Won’t Hold, but the group is already back with new music. Today, the band has shared the standalone single, “Animal,” their first new track since the recent album.
The aggressive rocker is about being inhibited and letting out any restrained anger that might be bottling up inside. The band’s Corin Tucker says, “‘Animal’ is a song about rebellion, retaliation and rage. It is a song about letting go of all politeness and filters and letting the ‘animal’ side speak. The vocals for this song were recorded in St. Vincent’s home studio, a perfect place to unleash a voice like this.”
Like the songs on The Center Won’t Hold, “Animal” was produced by St. Vincent, but it’s not clear if the track was recorded when recently departed drummer Janet Weiss was still in the band. Weiss surprisingly left the band in July, and shortly after that, Carrie Brownstein wrote, “What am I supposed to say? She left. We asked her to stay. We tried. It’s hard and sad. […] But we have to keep looking to the future. Things change, even when those changes are hard and unexpected.”
Listen to “Animal” above
