The Hold Steady - the Brooklyn based band lauded for "scope and depth that are all too rare in contemporary rock - indie or mainstream" (Pitchfork), recently put the finishing touches on Stay Positive, their new album set for release July 15 on Vagrant Records. The album was produced by John Agnello and recorded at Water Music in Hoboken, NJ and Wild Arctic Studios in Queens, NY, with mixing at the Magic Shop in Soho in Manhattan.

Singer Craig Finn defines Stay Positive as an album, musically and lyrically, about the attempt to age gracefully. Incorporating harpsichord, banjo and talk box, on "Stay Positive" the band's gift for literate, anthemic songwriting finds a new focus Finn calls more musical... more dynamics, different instrumentation, more complex arrangements, and not always hiding behind raw volume.

The songs came together on the road, as the band was touring the world behind 2006 s breakthrough Boys and Girls in America, a run that found the band playing well over 200 shows in 2007 alone. Says Finn, "possibly the most exciting aspect of our band is the community of fans that have followed us around the country. In talking to them, we have found that no matter their ages, they are so much like us as people, that they seem at times an extension of the music. A great American philosopher named D. Boon once said 'Our band could be your life.' I think that is true. But 'Your Life could be Our Band' is also a true statement. I know this because we have lived it. These are our lives. These are your lives. This is our fourth record. Stay Positive."

Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Constructive Summer
2. Sequestered in Memphis
3. One for the Cutters
4. Navy Sheets
5. Lord, I'm Discouraged
6. Yeah Sapphire
7. Both Crosses
8. Stay Positive
9. Magazines
10. Joke About Jamaica
11. Slapped Actress