The new and leaner incarnation of Sleater-Kinney (minus Janet Weiss) recently released their ninth album, The Center Won’t Hold. Now the duo have shared a new video for the single “Can I Go On,” and nothing about it is exactly expected. It begins with two women sitting in a room enjoying some coffee and each other’s company. From there, the pair disrobe, engage in interpretive dance, and have a mud wrestling bout.
Carrie Brownstein says of the video’s meaning, “Within the broader thematic context of The Center Won’t Hold album, we wanted the video to speak to an existence that has been fractured and frayed by age or by loss, by divisive politics, by trauma or depression. We aimed to showcase the female body as a place of resistance, to explore how much it can withstand trespass, sorrow, and chaos. The body, then, becomes a site of transformation, repurposing invisible wounds and wear into kinetic energy and power. The women in the video display modes of strength and joy in ways we do not traditionally see.”
Brownstein also previously said of the track, “In this song, a woman’s desire is used against her, so she turns it into a sinister infectiousness. The narrator finds herself on the brink of self-annihilation, grappling with the paradox of an internal darkness at odds with the pressure to outwardly perform modes of joy, relatability, and likability.”
Watch the video for “Can I Go On” above.
The Center Won’t Hold is out now via Mom + Pop. Get it here.
