ANTIETAM Releases New Single "The Finest Line" Ahead of THE COUNTING GAME

Antietam is set to release a new single, 'The Finest Line,' ahead of the band's upcoming album THE COUNTING GAME, out September 4 on Dromedary Records. The band is scheduled to perform at Dromfest in Catskill, New York, on Labor Day weekend.

On September 4, Antietam will return with their anticipated 14th studio album, THE COUNTING GAME, out via Dromedary Records on vinyl, CD, and digitally. The band has shared the album's final pre-release single 'The Finest Line,' a reflective song about stepping away from the chaos of daily life to regain perspective and reconnect with what matters. As Tara Key puts it, the song is about finding 'the finest line,' a space between the worldly and ephemeral where she can 'trust, to keep faith, have hope.' The song debuted at Sun-13 and is on all streaming platforms for playlist shares.

On the song the band's Tara Key says:

The daily minutiae are running roughshod—hucksters for the mundane stealing focus, pulling their bait and switch. So you retreat to the beach, to the country: wherever you can have stare time.

On the horizon is a line. But it is a blur, it cannot be frozen. The home of the Fata Morgana, ghost ships, conjured land, the underworld portal. The division point between worldly and ephemeral.

So I stare: What's important? What can I give instead of take? Note to self: reevaluate value. How did I get here and where am I going? And where exactly did they all go? I feel them all without form but I can hold them with my heart.

The finest line—the line that isn't really a line—exists for me to remember how to trust, to keep faith, have hope. Now I can drop back in on the hamster wheel chaos and dodge that traffic, stand in that line and pay those bills, happy to be alive to do it.

For more than four decades, Antietam have occupied a singular place in American underground rock. Formed in New York City in the mid-1980s by guitarist and vocalist Tara Key and bassist Tim Harris, and joined in 1990 by drummer Josh Madell, the trio have built a body of work that spans punk, indie rock, experimental music, and guitar-driven improvisation while remaining fiercely independent and unmistakably their own.

THE COUNTING GAME finds the band expanding its sound while retaining the qualities that have defined Antietam for decades: Key's soaring guitar work, Harris' melodic bass lines, and Madell's intuitive, propulsive drumming.

The album arrives after a remarkable career that began with Antietam's debut at CBGB in 1984 and has since encompassed a deep catalog of acclaimed albums, countless live performances, side projects, collaborations, and artistic reinventions. Along the way, the band earned praise from critics including Robert Christgau, Robert Palmer, Ann Powers, Greil Marcus, and Greg Kot, while developing a devoted following that continues to discover their four-decade-long discography.

Rather than serving as a retrospective, THE COUNTING GAME pushes forward. Alongside the band's trademark guitar-driven songs, the album introduces new textures and collaborators, including a cello and violin duet from Tim Harris and Katie Gentile on the title track, atmospheric contributions from Gentile, Mark Howell, and Tara Jane O'Neil on 'Winter Watch,' banjo from Kentucky musician Steve Cooley on 'Dorado Gold,' and guest vocals from Josh Madell's daughter, Trixie Madell, on 'Spy Vs. Spy.'

Throughout their history, Antietam have defied easy categorization, moving fluidly between melodic rock, noise, improvisation, and experimental forms while maintaining an unwavering commitment to their own artistic path. THE COUNTING GAME stands as the latest chapter in that story: a bold, adventurous record from a band whose creative curiosity remains as vital as ever.

After more than forty years, Antietam are still looking ahead.

The Counting Game Track List

1. Way Too Well

2. Spy Vs. Spy

3. Dorado Gold

4. The Finest Line

5. Every Other Star

6. Winter Watch

7. Good Advice

8. Coco Bella

9. The Counting Game

10. Coney Island

Photo Credit: Ellen Qbertplaya

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