The Hold Steady will release their eighth studio album, Open Door Policy, on February 19 via the band's Positive Jams label and Thirty Tigers. They made the record with producer Josh Kaufman (Bonny Light Horseman, Muzz) at The Clubhouse in Rhinebeck, NY. “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,” says frontman Craig Finn. “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 first single is the pounding "Family Farm." "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," says Finn. "'Family Farm' fits the bill. The genesis of the song was the guitar riff that starts it. 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."