Chastity Belt set a twenty-dollar limit for their studio Secret Santa. Every present had to come from a gas station or corner store. According to the account accompanying All My Friends, identities were closely guarded and paper-bag hats were worn. For a band now spread across three cities, getting together to record also means finding time for things like this.
Their sixth album, released November 6 through Suicide Squeeze, was recorded across several years. Sessions took place in LA, Woodinville and a house on the Greek island of Hydra; the band now lives across LA, Seattle and Chicago. The oldest material dates to around 2018. Other songs were finished within the past year.
Living that far apart leaves less time to rehearse. More of the songs now take shape in the studio, where even familiar roles can shift: on the opener, “Friends for This,” Gretchen Grimm moves from drums to lead guitar. Samur Khouja recorded much of the album and handled the mixing and mastering. The release notes describe those sessions as opportunities to see each other as well as make a record. On Hydra, that included abandoning the studio for a day and taking a boat to the far end of the island.
In the release notes, the band connects enjoying those sessions with liking the finished record. On Hydra, at least, making the album left room for a day off together.
“Friends for This” deals with the trust it takes to challenge a friend’s destructive habits. “Talk About,” which slows during the bridge before picking up speed again, returns to memories of time spent together in bars. These friendships have their own accumulated frustrations. A shared past gives people plenty to talk about, including things they would rather leave alone.
All My Friends took years to finish because the band had to fit it around lives in different cities. The songs make room for the harder parts of knowing someone a long time, too.