Slowdive, the Reading UK band that helped propel the '90s epoch gathering known as 'shoegaze' into pop culture, is set to deliver their 8-song Everything Is Alive on September 1. Not surprisingly, their style is still intact, with singer Rachel Goswell telling Billboard, "I’d say it's 'Slowdive, but Slowdive in 2023.'"
Slowdive 2023: Christian Savill, Nick Chaplin, Rachel Goswell, Simon Scott, Neil Halstead
The group formed in 1990 and released their self-titled debut EP in November of that year. What transpired among the shimmery drones and ethereal vocalization conceived by chief songwriter Neil Halstead was the now semi-despised, convenient "shoegaze" label. Amongst the cauldron of buzzy six-strings, other groups were also emerging, namely My Bloody Valentine and their signature wave of abrasive guitars and obscured vocals.
What should have been a celebration of like-minded musicians soon turned into a combative war of words, pointedly instigated by the British press who sharpened their tongues with negative reviews of "the scene that celebrates itself," and instead turned their attention to the native Britpop bands (Oasis, Blur) that produced more provocative headlines and the rise in the US of the grunge movement, courtesy of the explosion known as Nirvana.
Slowdive - Shine (Video), 1992
Slowdive was able to sustain a run into 1995 with Pygmalion, even as the sound turned around to minimalist, heavy ambient. But after being dropped by Creation Records, Halstead, Goswell and second drummer Ian McCutcheon moved to 4AD and turned in country-flavored music, calling themselves Mojave 3.
But in 2014, the band came back with their original lineup (including drummer Simon Scott) and proceeded to play a string of live dates which led to a renewed creative burst resulting in their self-titled album dispatched in 2017.
Slowdive, circa 1992
This leads us into 2023 and their upcoming release Everything Is Alive. As has been the history, the attention around the band has come from the fans, the audience that supported them initially and not the music press. While shortlisted to only eight tracks, the surroundings are very familiar, albeit older — a cohesive, fluid panorama of instrumentation, gauzy pop and vibrating voices courtesy of Goswell and Halstead.
The comparisons to their peers are inevitable when recalling the halcyon days of Chapterhouse, Swervedriver, Lush, the Catherine Wheel and the seminal dream pop musings of the Cocteau Twins. Yet, Slowdive is traveling down a path that they themselves paved decades ago and to be able to achieve recognition from newer bands who emulate their otherworldly tones is quite pleasing and let's face it, satisfying from a 30-plus-year perspective.
As Goswell affectionately noted in an interview with Paste "It's a lovely thing and it makes me smile. And I just think it's something good in the world, which is nice to be a part of."
