Slowdive — Slowdive
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The legendary shoegazers reunited 22 years after their disbandment and made a hell of a comeback.
In 1989, 5 musicians from Reading, England formed Slowdive. Releasing 3 albums in the early ’90s, Slowdive became the paragons of shoegaze (a genre named for the amount of effect pedals used while playing it causes the artists to seem to be staring at their feet.) Disbanding in 1995, many of the members went on to play together in a band called Mojave 3. The original Slowdive would reform in 2014 to begin playing the festival circuit. Three years later, the band began releasing new music. Producing two pre-release non charting singles, the album went on to receive critical acclaim. Topping many year end lists and reaching no. 16 on the UK charts, the album was deemed a critical and modest commercial success.
“Slomo” starts off the album with the distant and effects laden guitar fans of the band already loved. Soon a soothing synth and reverb drenched drums kick in before Neil Halstead begins his vocals. Rachel Goswell provides backing vocalizations on the almost 7 minute long song. Slowdive is one of those bands where I can catch every few words and often cannot piece together what the song as a whole is about. The slow pacing of the opening track gives way to the more energetic “Star Roving.” This track was the most popular release off the album and it is easy to see why. The song is accessible in terms of its execution, though its composition features no chorus, the repetitive nature of the track until the bridge serves said function.
“Don’t Know Why” keeps the energy high in our first Goswell led song since the band’s reunion. The song’s lyrics in the literal sense are about baggage from a breakup. In the meta sense, the song is about the band’s dissolution and the members which changed over time or were not re-added. In the end this punchy dream-pop ballad is about moving onwards.
“Sugar for the Pill” was the other single released from the album and is the Side A closer. The pensive guitar work clashes with the driving bass and drum lines throughout as Halstead laments a breakup. A spoonful of sugar with a pill is a life-hack to make something bitter go down easier. “Everyone Knows” is another Goswell led piece. Her lyrics here sound like a more wizened Cocteau Twins, both in content and execution. The high register she reaches while still seeming lethargic is something to behold. I may be basic, because this song has the most standard composition on the album, but “No Longer Making Time” is the best. The most chorus heavy track on the album reflects on the band’s advancing age and how they no longer have time to think they have time. While impulsiveness is often attributed to youth, Slowdive provides the counterpoint to said thinking throughout this driving rock song. The album ends with the beautiful and haunting “Falling Ashes.” Evoking the imagery of an inferno which is sending remnants of itself aloft, this piano outro features lyrics musing on isolation. Distance and time compound upon the narrator until all things remind him of only: love. Love of loss, of acceptance, of music, of family, of love. This is the message Slowdive leaves us with. Everything is about love, but not in The Beatles’ sensibility, rather love is all we have for good or for worse.
Must Listen To: No Longer Making Time
“Cathy, don’t wait too long / We’re no longer making time.”
