Two separate, intertwining narratives inform Sleater-Kinney’s return: one of lingering inevitability and another of furious necessity. The announcement of their split back in 2006 made it sound like an indefinite hiatus, not a contentious dissolution, so there was always hope they’d return. Then, four years ago, guitarist/vocalist Carrie Brownstein noted in interviews that the band would be back eventually; it was just a matter of when and what catalyst would fuel the reunion. As injustice, inequality, and oppression have continued to rage over the last few years, the trio’s eighth album, No Cities to Love, burns that new fuel in a startling conflagration.
