A precursor and taste of the new album everything is alive, Slowdive have shared a new single ‘kisses’
The album will be the band’s fifth, bringing the new album to the masses 22 years after their first album, “Just For A Day” was released in 1991. 1993’s “Souvlaki” skyrocketed Slowdive into stardom. “kisses” is a very guitar focused single, guitarist’s Neil Halstead and Rachel Goswell working together to create syncopated, modulating, chiming melodies on both guitars and vocals.
Their signature ambience is there, but there’s a new drive emanating from the band, Slowdive’s ‘kisses’ being one of their rockiest singles to date. The consistent, pushing rhythm supports Halstead’s dreamy vocal, while spacious, expanding delays and reverbs fill the space around him. Moments of acoustic guitar pull us in, before reverberating guitar opens up the stereo field before we’re pulled back to the chorus.
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everything is alive began with singer and guitarist Halstead experimenting with modular synths; the initial ideas were for a more minimal electronic record, and there’s elements of that, but Slowdive is “very much the sum of its parts… something unquantifiable happens when the five of us come together in a room.” says Goswell.
Slowdive achieved cult status with the rise of genres like shoegaze, but the new single defines them as more than that—transcending the genre, or at least pushing its boundaries. All of Slowdive influences, from post-punk and rock to ambience and minimalism are on show here, exhibited beautifully in “kisses”.
2020 saw production start, and the album slowly made its way to the finish line across the next two years, before Shawn Everett (The War On Drugs, Alvvays, SZA) was bought on board to mix the majority of the record. everything is alive is available everywhere on September 1, supported by extensive touring, including Australia & New Zealand in July.
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