Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	57/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Alternative Press
Blare
NME	(6/10)
Pitchfork Media	(2.3/10)
Rolling Stone
Spin

Stir the Blood is the third and final studio album by New York-based rock band The Bravery. The album was released on December 1, 2009, and features the singles "Slow Poison" and "I Am Your Skin".

To record the album, the band had to leave New York behind and head upstate and into the woods. The group set up shop for Stir the Blood at Dreamland Recording: a recording facility in an old 1800's church which, years ago, housed the Pixies for an unnamed project and The B-52's as they recorded "Love Shack". There, as most of the band came in and out, Endicott stayed in a neighboring house for several months as he helmed the producer's desk for the new record, alongside John Hill (Santigold and Shakira, for example). Songs like "Slow Poison", "She's So Bendable", "I Am Your Skin" and "Hatefuck" came about as Endicott picked through riffs recorded here and there from the band's tour in support of 2007's The Sun and the Moon. Endicott claims "there is a dark tone to this album" and that "there's an angry undertone to it". "I was pretty pissed off when I wrote a lot of the songs", says Endicott. He also claims that while the lyrics, which also focus on "intimacy", may be dark, the music stays upbeat.

The first single released, "Slow Poison", has reached numbers 24 and 40 on the US alternative songs and rock songs charts.

The second single, "I Am Your Skin", was released in November 2009 on iTunes.

A music video for the song "Hatefuck" was released in October 2009.

A music video for the song "Slow Poison" was released in November 2009.

A music video for the song "Sugar Pill" was also released in November 2009.

The cover of the album features a detail from 'Carrion Call' by British artist Polly Morgan.

All tracks written and composed by Sam Endicott, except where noted.

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