The Hold Steady Announce New Album 'Open Door Policy', Share First Single Family Farm
Wednesday, 02 December 2020
Written by Jon Stickler
The Hold Steady have shared details of their eighth studio album.
The follow-up to 2019's 'Thrashing Thru the Passion' is called 'Open Door Policy' and is scheduled to land on February 19 via their own Positive Jams label via Thirty Tigers.
Recorded at the Clubhouse in Rhinebeck, New York with producer Josh Kaufman, it's the second full-length from the Brooklyn-based band's six-piece line up — Bobby Drake, Craig Finn, Tad Kubler, Franz Nicolay, Galen Polivka and Steve Selvidge. It also features musicians Stuart Bogie of Arcade Fire, Jordan McLean, Cassandra Jenkins, Annie Nero and former Walkmen drummer Matt Barrick. Singer and guitarist Finn said:
"Open Door Policy was very much approached as an album vs a collection of individual songs, and it feels like our most musically expansive record. This album was written and almost entirely recorded before the pandemic started, but the songs and stories explore power, wealth, mental health, technology, capitalism, consumerism, and survival – issues which have compounded in 2020."
The news comes accompanied by the record's artwork and tracklist, which you can view below alongside the group's latest track, Family Farm, an upbeat guitar-driven earworm with a catchy singalong chorus. Finn continued:
"Songs are created a bunch of different ways in The Hold Steady, but to me, our most classic songs are driving rock songs with piano breaks. Family Farm fits the bill. The genesis of the song was the guitar riff that starts the song. Tad Kubler played a home demo for me and our producer Josh Kaufman, and we thought it was worth pursuing. At this point it had the working title August. We brought it to the band and Franz had the idea for the bridge. This seemed like a "scene change" of sorts, and gave the song more depth and intrigue. We recorded it in December 2019 at the Clubhouse in upstate NY, just after our annual run of shows at the Brooklyn Bowl. Our friends Stuart Bogie and Jordan McLean added horns a bit later. I was personally happy to get a mention of Van Halen's Eruption in the lyrics, and I appreciate it even more after Eddie Van Halen's unfortunate recent passing. Overall, it feels like a song that will be fun to play live - uptempo, dynamic and a chorus with shout along potential."
The 2020 edition of the Hold Steady tradition known as Massive Nights, an annual multi-night celebration of music and community at New York's Brooklyn Bowl, will be available to livestream tomorrow (December 3). Head here for further details.
In November, the band released a 10th anniversary edition of their fifth studio album, 'Heaven Is Whenever', featuring the previously unreleased song Separate Vacations.
'Open Door Policy' tracklist:
1. The Feelers
2. Spices
3. Lanyards
4. Family Farm
5. Unpleasant Breakfast
6. Heavy Covenant
7. The Prior Procedure
8. Riptown
9. Me & Magdalena
10. Hanover Camera
11. Parade Days (digital only)
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