Sleater-Kinney have released the lyric video for Can I Go On, the latest single from their forthcoming album The Center Wont Hold. The record, produced by St. Vincent, arrives August 16th.
Can I Go On combines existential despair and rage over the current era in its seething guitar riffs and lyrics: Sell our rage, buy and trade, but we still cry for free every day maybe Im not sure I wanna go on at all. From the opening line, Everyone is tired/And everyone is wired/To machines, its clear that Carrie Brownstein, who once again leads vocals on their fourth single in a row, means to address the technological dread brought on by the contemporary news cycle.
In this song, a womans desire is used against her, so she turns it into a sinister infectiousness, Brownstein said in a statement. 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.
Can I Go On follows the release of prior singles Hurry On Home, The Future Is Here and The Center Wont Hold. Sleater-Kinney will hit the road this fall for a North American tour in support of the album. Recently, Brownstein and vocalist/guitarist Corin Tucker sat down with theNew York Times to discuss recordingThe Center Wont Hold as well as the departure of longtime Sleater-Kinney drummer, Janet Weiss.