This Wednesday, Sadie Dupuis roars into town with the wind of a new solo album at her back and a message that needs to be heard.
As Sad13, the Speedy Ortiz singer/guitarist released her solo debut last month in form of the fuzzy, infectious, and pop-leaning album titled Slugger. And though Speedy Ortiz formed in Northampton, on the other side of Massachusetts, Dupuis’ recent roots lie in here in Boston, making this upcoming stop at the Middle East in Cambridge a sort-of anticipated homecoming show.
“I have a long history over the last ten years of living in and around Boston, and it’s a city that was welcoming to Speedy Ortiz right from our start, a city that really stands by its local artists,” says Dupuis. “I live in Philadelphia now but I think Speedy Ortiz will always consider itself a ‘Boston band’ — and it’s very exciting to get to bring Sad13, which is a totally new project, to Boston, especially on the last night of our tour.”
On the whipsmart Slugger, Dupuis explores relationships in the 21st century with songs like the quirky “<2” (pronounced “less than two,” a take on writing <3 as a heart) and “Fixina,” as well as addresses misogyny and some of the more tragic events in her recent past. The LP's lead single, "Get A Yes," is about mutual consent between partners and, perhaps more importantly, would-be partners. On the release day of Slugger in November, Dupuis gave fans some background on the solo album via Twitter. Recorded over the course of two weeks in January 2016 in Philadelphia, Dupuis wrote the album after the unexpected death of her father and a period of being stalked by an abusive ex-partner. Instead of bucking under pressure to withdraw after these unfortunate events, Dupuis said she felt responsible to speak out about the other issues going on in the country, noting the ongoing racism and sexism in America in her tweet.
some thoughts about my solo album slugger, which came out today
stream it free: https://t.co/7nlD2NziSn
or buy it
or donate ur money 2 good pic.twitter.com/QeC7e4cjBe— sadie dupuis (@sad13) November 11, 2016
Boston was initially slated to be Dupuis’ first stop on her American tour, but was moved to the end of the tour in order to ensure the maximum slayage that comes only after a fair amount of practice. With Vagabon and Emily Reo also on the Cambridge bill, Dupuis finds herself in solid indie rock company at the Central Square gig.
“I wanted to make sure we were really good at playing these songs before we came through,” Dupuis adds, “so now it’s it’s gonna feel like a really nice homecoming celebration to cap things off.”
With any luck, she’ll toss in “Krampus (In Love)” and “Devil in U” in the name of the real spirit of Christmastime.