[rating=9.00]
Slowdive’s true strength, for those who were familiar with their work in the 90’s, was their openness that was understandably morose yet stirring – no doubt due to Rachel Goswell and Neil Halstead vocal duality that seemed to pierce through everything and eventually succumb even the most skeptical. While other groups heavily sedated their listeners with a layered mixture of guitar dissonance and subtle bliss with muted lyrics for the unknown, Slowdive was definitively switched. Their reunion album, aptly named Slowdive for their return, gives way to that heaviness that evaded their album releases previously.
The band’s quick rise and fall in popularity was abrupt and most likely undeserved as their last release – Pygmaliion – can be considered a fitting curtain call; experimenting with ambient electronic music with solid execution was bold. This ultimately did not work for such a band pressured into producing pop hits when that was selling heavily and amicably dissolved soon after. No one really cared for shoegaze at that point, as Britpop was taking over and Slowdive had moved on from their career when they realized their popularity had faded as quickly as it had begun. An understandably nostalgic nature has overtaken many 90s music listeners as groups of the era such as Suede, Blur, Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine, The Pixies, Ride, Lush, the list goes on and on, have all reunited and released new work from below expectations to surprisingly strong results. It doesn’t take long to see why the band has come back their influence on bands now is apparent and their fan base has been rejuvenated in ways that themselves didn’t believe were possible when they started touring three years ago.
The arrival in the new century sees the distortion pedal that set the same inescapable wash that most will embrace. Goswell’s and Halstead carry this effort through the door with introverted shyness that was so brutally beautiful upon Souvlaki. The opener “Slomo” eases all recognizable when it starts in a back and forth duel between the fragile Halstead and resonant Goswell that is shot up with an eerie powerful guitar of Christian Savill that winds up being a weighty and meditative seven minutes. “Everyone Knows” showcases the way the group hasn’t fallen apart with small interludes of clear air in the murkiness of Goswell’s posturing. Even “No Longer Making Time” bass line pushes through it all in some unbelievable fortune as Halstead weaves with obscurity. There are many moments on this record that feel connected due its far more distinctive immensity that was more akin to the band’s early years. It’s strikingly effective when it works, and it does almost every time, but it isn’t necessarily a suspenseful run-time as there isn’t much verbosity to see here, and instead Slowdive is carried by their deep atmosphere.
What is more important of 2017 Slowdive is that it rarely feels like this affair is half-hearted as much of the record stands on its own individually and as a whole. To be blunter, there isn’t any fat to cut because this album is lean with more to garner with every listen. “I want to see it, I want to feel it” is harmonized upon “Go Get It” that flashes back to “40 Days” without the previous hazy tendencies. It’s a powerful song that quickly becomes a watershed moment that doesn’t actually give way to any feeling of the band taking any cues from their previous material step by step. That’s always the worry when a band reunited – they’ll either rehash or just not have the same urgency of their previous days. In a way, this song cleanses both this notion entirely and the previous 30 minutes of guitar asphyxiation in one breakthrough.
It would be a fitting closing chapter to this album, but “Falling Ashes” unfortunately is the closer. In a way the track connects with their previous finale dimness that was Pygmalion. The songwriting stands firm as it mirrors the stark focus lyrically Souvlaki stood on, but there is a lot to be desired as the piano crescendo is frail with the same repetitious musical forefront that does nothing to press on for true remembrance on what was previously the best track on Slowdive’s return. Many critics and bands felt that shoegaze was a fad with no substance, but this recent outing says otherwise as Slowdive have positively replied with a resounding push back at that silly belief.
