The outlook for Sonic Youth’s future is no brighter following a fascinating Rolling Stone interview with guitarist Lee Ranaldo. “I’m feeling optimistic about the future no matter what happens at this point,” Ranaldo said. Unfortunately, the question was about “the future of the band” — a phrase Ranaldo drops from his answer, which could be telling or could just be a coincidence, but either way doesn’t sound entirely optimistic. Especially not for anyone still hoping for a follow-up to 2009’s The Eternal, or at least more SY live shows.
Ranaldo went on to say, “I mean, every band runs its course. We’ve been together way longer than any of us ever imagined would happen and it’s been for the most part an incredibly pleasurable ride. There’s still a lot of stuff we’re going to continue to do. There’s tons and tons of archival projects and things like that that are still going on, so there are so many ways in which we are tied to each other for the future both musically and in other ways. I’m just happy right now to let the future take its course and I guess I’m kind of thankful that I’ve got this other project that kind of came about on its own.”
That “other project” is Ranaldo’s first proper solo album, Between the Times and the Tides due on March 20, 2012, via Matador. “Over the last couple years Sonic Youth has slowed down markedly, just because we’ve all been working on our own projects,” Ranaldo told Rolling Stone, “and I guess I was just starting to feel a little bit antsy or something.” As previously reported, Sonic Youth’s lead couple Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon are going their separate ways after 21 years of marriage; Moore released his third solo album, the Beck-produced Demolished Thoughts, earlier this year.
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Look at Moore and Gordon’s relationship in pictures here, and check out SPIN’s examination of their relationship in song here.
