Sarah and the Safe Word

Sarah and the Safe Word is an American rock band based in Atlanta, Georgia. Formed in 2015 by lead singer Sarah Rose and guitarist Kienan Dietrich, the band's current lineup also includes keyboardist Beth Ballinger and bassist Maddox Reksten. They are known for their theatrical 1920s cabaret-inspired style, eclectic blend of genres and influences, and affiliation with and advocacy for the LGBT community and other marginalized groups. On the strength of their debut album, Strange Doings in the Night (2017), Sarah and the Safe Word were invited by Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman to perform at that year's festival; they have since toured with acts including Motionless in White, The Birthday Massacre, and Dog Park Dissidents. After signing to independent label Take This To Heart Records, the band released their second album, Red Hot & Holy (2019), followed by Good Gracious! Bad People in 2020. In 2022, the band issued a remastered version of Strange Doings in the Night via Say-10 Records. In 2023, the band released their fourth album, The Book Of Broken Glass. Sarah and the Safe Word was formed in Atlanta, Georgia in 2015. Lead singer Sarah Rose and guitarist Kienan Dietrich had known each other from the local music scene as members of the bands Go Robo Go and Ravens and Wolves. After Go Robo Go disbanded, Rose, believing her music career was over, moved to Washington, D.C. for a year. She returned to Atlanta and formed Sarah and the Safe Word, initially intending it as an occasional solo project before Dietrich convinced her to make it a full band. The band name is a reference to the practice of safewords in the BDSM community, which Rose is openly involved in. The project's first EP, Afterlife, was produced by Lee Jennings and released in late 2015, preceded by the single "Sugar in My Veins". The following year, the EP was re-released in February, and the band released two singles, "The Supernova" and a cover of Soft Cell's "Tainted Love". While the EP was primarily recorded with Rose, Dietrich, and bassist Brandon Ward, for their 2017 debut album, Strange Doings in the Night, the pair brought in a number of session musicians to flesh out the sound, many of whom became official members, including violinist Susy Reyes, keyboardist Beth Ballinger, and viola player Courtney Varner. The album was produced by Emarosa's Bradley Walden and released on March 28, 2017. The album was brought to the attention of Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman, who invited the band to perform at the tour's Atlanta stop in 2017. Shortly before the tour, Maddox Reksten, who had performed gang vocals on the album, was made the band's official bassist. That same year, the band performed at Southern Fried Queer Pride, as one of several acts chosen to replace Pwr Bttm following that group's removal for misconduct allegations. In August, they released a music video for the song "The Louisville Shuffle (R.I.P.)". A coastal Florida tour in September was planned but ultimately cancelled due to Hurricane Irma. In October, they performed at Center Stage in Atlanta as part of Motionless in White's Graveyard Shift Tour, appearing alongside Miss May I and The Amity Affliction. In January 2018, the band released a cover of Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)". The following July, they appeared in an episode of The CW series The Originals, performing at the wedding of characters Freya (Riley Voelkel) and Keelin (Christina Moses). In September, the band released a music video for the single "Red Hot and Holy". Inspired by Mark Romanek's work with Nine Inch Nails, Raúl Gonzo's work with Pvris, and The Dangerous Summer's video for "Work in Progress", the video depicted each of the now-seven-member band as one of the seven deadly sins. The following month, they released a new EP of the same name on October 26 and hosted a Halloween Ball in Marietta, Georgia with local bands Fable Cry and The Keepsake. In February 2019, the band released a cover of "Face My Fears" by Hikaru Utada and Skrillex, originally from the Kingdom Hearts III soundtrack. On May 16, 2019, it was announced that Sarah and the Safe Word had signed to independent label Take This To Heart Records. Rose said that, while the band had been cautious about signing to a label, Take This To Heart had "given us a bigger platform to create what we’ve been creating for a long time now. They haven’t had their fingers in the pie, and we can continue doing what we’ve been doing." The announcement was accompanied by a new single and music video, "Formula 666", the lead single of an upcoming album Red Hot & Holy (which added three new songs to the previous EP). Marvin Doyital of Alternative Press included the single in "10 new songs you need to hear this week", praising it as a "cheeky punk banger" that was "proof that [the band] mean serious business". The album, recorded with producer Aaron Pace, was released on May 24 through Take This To Heart. Rose described the album as "the full realization of the process of discovery that we started with SDITN" due to better incorporating "the overall theatricality of the band", while Dietrich noted that new producer Pace "helped us learn which aspects of the recording need to stay grounded so we can put maximum weirdness into the aspects that don’t." The following month, the band performed at Augusta Pride. The band began work on a new album, entitled Good Gracious! Bad People., in October 2019, recording with producer Jim Wirt (Fiona Apple, Something Corporate) in Cleveland, Ohio and planning for a March or April 2020 release. In January 2020 they released the single "You're All Scotch, No Soda", a new single and music video teased as the beginnings of a new album. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the album's release was delayed, and the band took a hiatus from touring. In April, they released a cover of Fountains of Wayne's "Mexican Wine". Despite the album delay, a second single, "Sick on Seventh Street", was released in May, with The Alternative describing the video as "like walking into a hazy bar, there’s something slightly off that keeps you coming back." The album's official lead single, "The Last Great Sweetheart of the Grand Electric Rodeo", was released in August; Adam Grundy of ChorusFM described the song as "encapsulating everything that this band is capable of creating when they are firing on all creative cylinders". Three more singles, ""Something is Afoot on Old Man McGrady's River", "Bottom of a Bender", and "When Oskar Fische Comes To Town", were issued before Good Gracious! Bad People. was finally released on October 30, 2020 via Take This To Heart. The album was positively reviewed; Grundy wrote that the band "appear poised to take the next dramatic leap into the limelight as their new record delivers all over the board", while Cole Faulkner of The Punk Site wrote "If Good Gracious! Bad People. doesn’t become a runaway breakout success, then something is seriously wrong with the music industry today". On June 19, having had no permanent drummer for several years, the band announced via Instagram that Carlos Gonzalez had become the band's official drummer. The band said in a statement: "In the past several months, we’ve been lucky enough to get to know and play with Carlos Gonzales. To know Carlos is to know his kindness, friendship, and creativity. It’s not easy to come into a group of six people who know each other well and find your own voice within it, but Carlos has become a part of our family." In December, Sarah and the Safe Word appeared on the No Sleep Records compilation EP No Sleep Til Christmas 8, contributing the song "Prancer's Night Off" alongside artists like Geoff Rickly, Michael Malarkey, and Riverby. On July 30, 2021, the band released a new standalone single, "Lost Ring on Riverside". The song was reportedly inspired by Rose seeing a poster for a lost wedding ring while walking down Riverside Drive in Manhattan. The same day as the