Laura Jane Grace—the singer and songwriter who fronts the bands Against Me! and the Devouring Mothers—has just surprise released a new album called Stay Alive. It’s out now via Polyvinyl. Listen to it below.
The album was made this year during the COVID-19 pandemic as Against Me! came home from a tour. It was recorded with Steve Albini at his iconic Electrical Audio studio in Chicago. The album comes with a variety of bundles, including a series of test pressings where a portion of the proceeds will go to the LGBTQ Freedom Fund.
“I sat around for a month-and-a-half at a home just being shellshocked being like, ‘What the fuck happened and what the fuck is happening with the world,’” she said in a statement. “As I started to get my bearings, I just came to the realization that waiting was going to kill the record and kill the songs. I spent two years working on all these songs, and the idea of throwing them away didn’t sit well with me. But then I was like, ‘What am I waiting for?’ All I have to do is adjust my scope. I can sit here on my fucking ass and do nothing, or I can work.”
Read Pitchfork’s interview “Against Me!’s Laura Jane Grace on the Music of Her Life.”