The Hold Steady preview new album with third track "Understudies"

"Understudies" will appear on The Price of Progress with the band's previous singles "Sixers" and "Sideways Skull", and frontman Craig Finn says the new song is "a leap from any song on the previous eight THS records."

Finn continues, "Franz [Nicolay, keyboards] brought this idea in and it went to a lot of cool places. I remember walking into the control room to see Galen [Polivka, bass] and producer Josh Kaufman working on the panned bass part that comes in on the last verse. I was surprised and wildly excited by it. We all were. The story here: an actor is restless after his performance. He and a fellow crew member disappear into the night trying to find something to help them sleep. The next day neither of them can be reached, and the director is scrambling for a replacement."

The Price of Progress will follow 2021's Open Door Policy album, and is once again produced by Bonny Light Horseman's Josh Kaufman.