Slowdive - Slowdive
The main component of Slowdive? Letting the sound of their guitars and basses dissolve into hall and reverb as if each tone, one by one, drifts away – and so does its listeners as well. Slowdive’s latest LP, which bears the same name as the band, is highly contemplative, dreamy, and full of melancholy in one can easily lose oneself and dream away.
British Shoegaze Band of the early 90ies, split up in 1995 but reformed in 2014. Slowdives’ extraordinary sound is on the one side located between Dark Wave, Post Punk and Dream-Pop with some influences in Electronic Music, ambient music to be exact. Commonly this cross-over is known as the genre Shoegaze. The term shoegaze ironically originated through the typical posture of the musicians who normally kept their eyes on their feet to use their pedals. At the same time shoegaze is supposed to reflect the musicians introversion and timidity. You can for sure recognize this sound aesthetic on Slowdive’s LP.
To my ears their recent records sounds fairly old school: firstly, the way they formed their tracks seems pretty standard. This does not make their sound innovative but that is, I reckon, the crucial aspect of their music. They sound as if they have been stuck in the past century; pretty laid-back tunes and (in a good way) “simple” arrangements.
Secondly, and the most remarkable aspect to note, is Slowdive’s production and recording of their LP compared to the outcome of other contemporary records in 2021: through producing primarily digital, any kind of sound patina normally vanishes in the process, while the recording of the instruments might be very accurate and clean, though the tracks tend to lose some kind of width and fullness. Slowdive stuck to record all of their tracks conventionally.
This is exactly the reason why you can fully fall into Solwdive’s music: Putting on the record, the first track Slomo forfeits that state: you hear a perfect interplay of restrained drums, soft bass, expansive reverb-guitars and Rachel Goswell’s dreamy vocal line. With the next track Star Roving the atmosphere unexpectedly changes its listeners state of mind as Slowdive picks up speed by some typical shoegaze driven sounds. Don’t know Why follows up next: it joins in with the swiftness of the previous track, yet comes along with plenty of easiness and merriness. Then the tone of the record changes back into that typical contemplative spirit of the beginning. Hereby, No Longer Making Time has to get pointed out as well as Go Get it: Both tracks display a diversified song structure, starting off light and melancholic, but then picking up with a pretty sweeping, almost pathetic chorus leaving its listeners with plenty of nostalgia behind, achieved though some truly powerful guitar and bass arrangements, accompanied by Simon Scott’s tendering drums and the wistful lyrics sung by Neil and Rachel.
A peaceful and calming piano, that get supported by a guitar in the background and Neil singing some fairly touching lyrics ends the album with Falling Ashes. What better way is there to round up the album in this dreamy and contemplating way.
Slowdive on Spotify:
