#slowdive

everytime i listen to when the sun hits by slowdive i pretend im a character of an indie coming of age film

plymouthshoegazer:

A floating, whirlwind ocean of sound. Searing and screeching orchestral strings. Encapsulated in a hazy dream, gazing at both feet and the stars simultaneously. Being transported in the most soothing and caressing way possible. A ray of intense light guiding me as open space engulfs me either side………….

 The Great British Shoegaze band ‘Slowdive’ will be celebrating 30 years of being a band in 2019. What better way to mark it than being gifted a well-deserved Glastonbury Festival slot?

This is a band that has had a significantly positive impact on my life and many others. After forming in Reading, England in 1989, Slowdive released a self -titled EP in 1990 that featured a very fitting spiralling and blurry piece of green artwork on its sleeve. They then went on to create a couple more EP’s and released their official debut album titled ‘Just For A Day’ in 1991, validly viewed as being criminally under respected by even the band members themselves. Great success did not come however as they caught amidst a time where there was great competition in the independent and alternative music scenes, plus they were far from approved by the savagely critical yet hesitant journalists at the time. arguably Slowdive’s finest moment was the release of their 2nd album named 'Souvlaki’ released in May, 1993 which features fan favourites such as the almost sing-along pop anthem of 'Alison’, the wondrous, live - favourite jam of 'Souvlaki Space Station’ and the simmering, suspenseful before euphoric rise of 'When The Sun Hits’. However, this still failed to impress wretched journalists, who by this time refused to even give a “Shoegazing” record (Yes, the scene that reverb – laden guitar dreamers were lumped in to) a whiff of an ear drum. This contributed to the irrelevance of Slowdive in the public sphere but they soldiered on to release one final album titled ‘Pygmalion’ in 1995 before calling it a day in the same year. Against all odds though, Slowdive thankfully decided to roll the dice again and reformed in 2014, amidst a re-newed fascination with all things ‘Shoegaze and dream pop’ with a full torrent of influenced artists and the return of fellow Shoegaze titans, My Bloody Valentine, that resulted in a feast of festival appearances and sold out shows. In 2017, after 22 years of waiting, fans were gifted a new album which was self-titled ‘Slowdive’. (Probably to re-enforce the amazing realisation of them actually returning, they had to put their name attached to it twice!) It was met with widespread critical acclaim, receiving an impressive 8.6/10 rating from Pitchfork. Slowdive still continue and long may they reign!

As for the music itself, Neil Halstead’s songwriting talent is incredibly evocative, dreamy, sensual, often unintelligible yet intimate and re-assuring and full of beautiful and heart-breaking imagery, coupled with a guitar sound that one may describe (if they can!) as ethereal and soothing yet all enveloping and intensely powerful, even orchestral most of the time. Slowdive are masters of marrying a plethora of beautiful noise whilst retaining a monumental sense of melody and overall accessibility; Rachel Goswell ’s angelic, beautiful, fragile and poignant vocals meld into the hurricane of guitars and synth like cream on top of jam of a scone; (Easy now, Cornish people!) amidst a furious torrential thunder storm frenzy of drumming provided by Simon Scott and vital and intricate bass work by Nick Chaplin who’s crucial role is to pin down the roof that is constantly threatening to be blown away by the force of nature ebbing and flowing within, anchoring it down whilst constructing melodies himself. The highly under-appreciated Christian Savill enhances the swirls and gusts of the vast ocean painted by Neil Halstead and as waves smash against rocks. Christian’s meticulous guitar craftsmanship can suddenly jolt out of the landscape, catapulting into unknown territory before re-emerging within the ocean texture as smooth as a dolphin glides along the sea surface. Christian draws the ripples that adds a sense of further texture and personification to the ocean of earth-shattering but transparent sound that Neil lays down, all juxtaposed by fragile and meek vocals that skim the water’s surface like a bird. 

Slowdive not only tell a story, and set up a landscape/environment, they also create a colossal degree of feeling, imagery and an ability to transport you into an ethereal dimension with soft spoken ambiguous words that are hardly even audible; Ultimately, they manufacture art and poetry in sound! Presented in a way that is a complete ballet of brutality! It’s all of these aspects and more that ensure that Slowdive are the most beautiful band in the world.

Thank you for reading,

Sam Mortley     Written on: 15/11/2018