'I wanna feel it'
Shoegaze juggernauts Slowdive release their first full
length studio album in twenty two years, and after two singles I felt lukewarm on,
I was unsure what to expect.
In terms of the sound, Slowdive embrace their indie roots
here more potently than on any of their previous releases. The tempos and
rhythms feel a lot faster and punchier than on an album like Souvlaki and the songs structures are a
lot more straightforward than an album like Pygmalion.
At the very least, this album succeeds in carving a unique identity within
their back-catalogue, and so a fault one cannot push on this album is that it
is a band trying to desperately grasp onto and reproduce their past.
There are moments on this album where they utilise this
slightly more upbeat approach to create songs that are affectionate, catchy and
colourfully rhythmic. Slomo, for
example, features huge ascending and descending guitar wails and beautifully
arranged vocals that sit on top of a slightly more up-tempo and fun drum beat
than one you may have heard on previous albums. But the tender, dissolving
beauty is not sacrificed here and is still ever-present, especially at moments
like the harmonising between Neil and Rachel, showing their vocals are still
able to blend and bleed into each other to create mesmerising sounds.
However, there are songs that move away from their old sounds
at the expense of the glistening delicacy and emotive force. The lead single, Star Roving, has a clearer and more
rhythmic dream pop sound than the smothering shoegaze of their early days. The
riff is very discernible, and it seems the guitars are used less as bastions
for brick walls of sounds and slightly more for their common rock and pop usage.
Also, again the song has a distinct groove. In this though, there is a lack of
that sonic singularity and feeling of oneness
that songs on Souvlaki achieved so
well. For example, tracks like Machine
Gun and Souvlaki Space Station
would smother you with blissful melodies, whereas a song like Star Roving lacks the towering stature
of sound to do that. Because of this, the overwhelming, drowning emotion of
those older songs are lost, and I find myself more detached in feeling.
Similarly, Don’t Know Why has an even
more bouncier feel, speeding up the pace even further in the verses. Luckily
this song is redeemed by slower breaks where Rachel’s voice can bask in the
ocean of reverb, and I can let it wash over me rather than jump around me. There
is also a fragment of the song that Neil champions, again slower, and more able
to stimulate some sentimentality in me.
The lowest point of this album, Sugar for the Pill, although does not suffer from the distracting
bounciness, feels almost cheesy in its delivery of sensitivity. The riff is a
pleasant aspect of the track, itself being very intimate. However, Neil’s
performance lacks the vulnerability of a song like Dagger. Perhaps it is in the writing of the melodies, or perhaps it
is an aged voice, either way, something
here is missing. And although No More
Making Time has a sombre and haunting riff, the chorus feels overly simple
and full of beating chords which detracts from the soft emotional touch that
their style and their voices are complimented by.
Luckily, the album goes out on two high notes. Go Get It finally packs an emotional
punch with the ‘I wanna see it, I wanna
feel it’ trade-off soaring amongst the various refrains on the project.
What’s more, there is a noticeable depth and earthiness to the drums here, and
a brilliant moment in the latter portions of the song where Neil’s voice drops
to its lowest register and groans on top of some primal percussion. Following
from this, the album closer has a delicate piano and soft guitar coupling, which
gradually increases in layers, conjuring a building intensity until they
produce a climactic duality. This is the album’s most touching and sweet moment
undoubtedly.
As a reviewer, I have committed the cardinal sin, I spent
much of the review comparing it to their ‘glory days’. However, those signature
shoegaze ethereal walls of sound are still here (albeit less prominent), as are Neil and Rachel and
their heavily effect-ridden voices. The components are much the same, and so I
feel the comparisons are warranted. Although most of the songs have some redeemable quality somewhere, I find myself distracted by an
unmatched energy on this album, and overall less emotionally impacted as I
would have hoped.
Highlights: Slomo, Go Get It, Falling Ashes
Lowlights: Sugar for the Pill
Lowlights: Sugar for the Pill
Rating: 6.5/10
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