Slowdive are back!

[Ulrich]

Congrats!
https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/8462369/a2im-libera-awards-winners-2018

A2IM's Libera Awards show capped an action packed indie week in New York City, closing out the organization's annual conference with Slowdive's self-titled album (Dead Oceans) picking up album of the year

[Ulrich]

Article from Dec. 2018:

https://pitchfork.com/features/article/why-slowdives-post-rock-masterpiece-pygmalion-still-matters/

This majestic record became a cult touchstone for its ambient detours and post-rock experiments. Nothing else sounds quite like it, and Slowdive themselves fell silent for years afterward, save for side projects, only to finally reemerge with 2017's triumphant, self-titled reunion album.

[Ulrich]

From Slowdive on FB:

Today we are joining thousands of UK based artists & live music businesses to urge the Government to reduce the costs and red tape faced by the touring industry when full-scale live touring of Europe resumes.

Support the campaign: https://letthemusicmove.org/

(From the website: "#LetTheMusicMove invites all artists, music professionals and fans to call on the UK government to do more to support the future of the music industry, and mitigate the Brexit-related impacts of restrictions, costs and delays on European touring.")

[Ulrich]

Slwodive on FB:

New Music. Tuesday. 20/06/2023.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9RpHfPyEx8

[nerdiee]

Slwodive on FB:

New Music. Tuesday. 20/06/2023.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9RpHfPyEx8

oh, I heard (and listen to) only one of their albums, and I didn't know that slowdive were releasing something new right now..
it will be interesting to listen, thanks for posting!

[Ulrich]

Well they had a strong "comeback" album out in 2017. (Sadly I could not make it to the Munich show in early 2018.) I own this and an older album and an EP (1993). Plus I got a cassette tape with much of their old stuff from '91-'93.
Looking forward to the new songs!

[Ulrich]

https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/news/slowdives-nick-chaplin-discusses-the-bands-forthcoming-album-their-first-in-six-years

Explaining what it was like to release an album two decades after disbanding, Chaplin says: "When we released the record in 2017, I think it took us by surprise a little bit. When we got back together in 2014, we weren't really sure whether people were that interested. Clearly they were, and we saw that, but then it's like, they want to hear the old songs, and they're not going to be bothered with us if we release a new album with new material on it," he begins.

"Once that came out, people were really into it, and we started to get a new, sort of younger fan base from the back of that record as well, which took us by surprise. I think we were just a bit burnt out after we toured that record, because we were all nearly in our fifties."

Chaplin reveals that the past six years have passed by pretty quickly, and that Slowdive never really intended on making another album; it just happened. "We wanted to take a bit of a break and see what the next steps would be, and whether there would even be any next steps. Then a pandemic happened, which obviously meant that we couldn't really get out there and play shows for a couple of years," he says.

"I think a lot of bands maybe used that time to be creative and to go and sit in separate studios and email stuff to each other. We don't really work well in that situation. We work better when we're all together. We did try and do stuff remotely, but it didn't really come together."

Neil Halstead is the main songwriter and producer of Slowdive. He came to the band with most of the songs from Everything is Alive already fully formed, before they took them to different studios to put the Slowdive stamp on them, as some of the songs were laden with modular synths and going down a more electronic sound. As Chaplin attests, Halstead "does want to take risks and push things in different directions that maybe some of the rest of us are a little bit less comfortable with."

Despite the six years that have passed since their self-titled album, and the three decades since their debut, it's slightly difficult for Chaplin to say how he thinks this album represents Slowdive as a band: "It's been six years, but it doesn't really seem that long. I think as you get older, the years go by in a blink of an eye".

"We're probably just a bit more confident than we were before. But having said that, I think we all agree that there was a hell of a lot of goodwill and kind words written about the last record, because the band's story was quite compelling, whereas we don't have that this time, and so we have to sort of stand on our own two feet," he explains.

[dsanchez]

New album coming out next month and this song...

[Ulrich]

https://www.spin.com/2023/09/slowdive-are-more-alive-than-ever/

Although the finished product only reveals traces of it, everything is alive was originally imagined as an electronic record. Halstead was creating sounds with modular synths that he thought could work as a solo record. But instead of pursuing a more personal project, he shared the tracks with his bandmates.

"I have a studio close to where I live. If I'm not touring, I'm usually doing something in the studio," he says. "I was working on some electronic music that I hadn't figured out, so I repurposed some of it once we started talking about a new record. I didn't feel like sitting down and writing on a guitar. [Instead] this felt like a way to start a Slowdive record."

You can hear those synths pulsate through the undulating sprawl of "shanty" and the kosmische-esque "chained to a cloud." It's also hard not to recall vintage Slowdive on both "prayer remembered" and "skin in the game," which evoke Just For A Day and Souvlaki, respectively. But lead single "Kisses" feels like the biggest leap and something fans have long waited for. It's arguably their most melodic song to date...

Approaching 35 years since they first assembled, Slowdive are just happy to be together at this point — never mind making the best music of their career at this stage. The fact that they've been around longer since they reunited than their original run is not lost on them.

"It's a lot longer," Halstead says with some astonishment. "Originally we were only together for six years. It's weird. I remember being 24 when Slowdive finished and thinking, 'Well, that's it. Music's done now." Because I felt really old at that age, and we'd already been through the music industry, which is absurd. So yeah, it is ridiculous that we're making music at our age. Positively indecent."

[Ulrich]

Just bought the album (cd) today and listened in my car, I'm well impressed & the music fits the autumn weather.

[Ulrich]

The Slowdive concert in Munich is already sold out (since a few weeks). 

Are you going to see them anywhere, @dsanchez ?

[Ulrich]

Slowdive - Echoes with Jehnny Beth - ARTE Concert

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmSrHCUBLQ0

Premiere on March 25 th 8pm (CET)

Aufzeichnung vom 14. November 2023 im Yoyo in Paris.

[Ulrich]

Nice that Rachel Goswell just "liked" a comment I made on Slowdive's FB page almost 2 years ago!