Open Door Policy is the 8th and latest album from The Hold Steady, filled with stories about mental health, the destructive influence of wealth in society, food, and other human stories. Giving those stories a voice is the sing/talking style of Craig Finn, who has a way of conveying the human spirit better than most.
Though we claim The Hold Steady as a Minnesota band (Finn grew up in Edina) the band members are sprawled across the country, from Brooklyn, to Memphis, and the Bay Area. The band's keyboardist, Franz Nicolay, left in 2010 and came back to the band in 2016. Open Door Policy is the first proper album they've written and recorded with Nicolay back in the band, and now as a fully formed 6-piece band. Recorded in 2019 before the pandemic, the band has been sitting on these songs for over a year.
Listen to KAXE/KBXE this next week to hear more from Open Door Policy, and let us know what you think! Email comments@kaxe.org.