Slow Club were an English duo formed in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

in 2006. The band consisted of multi-instrumentalists Charles Watson and

Rebecca Lucy Taylor Rebecca Lucy Taylor (born 15 October 1986), also known by her stage name Self Esteem, is a British musician, songwriter and actress. First known as one half of the band Slow Club, she launched a solo career as Self Esteem with the single "Your ...

, with Watson contributing piano, Taylor contributing drums, and both performing guitar and vocals. The band split in 2017 following an extensive tour to support their last album, with both members moving on to solo projects.

History

Slow Club formed in 2006 following the dissolution of the indie-rock band The Lonely Hearts The band released two 7" singles in 2007, "Because We're Dead" and "Me and You", on

Moshi Moshi Records Moshi Moshi Records is a small London-based record label founded in 1998 by Adrian Pike, Michael McClatchey and Stephen Bass. The label has released music by bands including Lykke Li, Fimber Bravo, Bloc Party, Hot Chip, Late of the Pier, H ...

. On 1 September 2008, their first

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

, ''Let's Fall Back in Love'', was released. A

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

single, titled "Christmas TV", was released in December 2008. Their debut album, '' Yeah So'', was recorded by Mike Timm at Axis Studio in Sheffield and released in July 2009, followed by the release of their second EP ''Christmas, Thanks For Nothing'' in December 2009. The band's second album, ''

Paradise In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...

'', produced by Luke Smith (

Clor Clor was a short-lived five-piece band from Brixton, England, formed by Barry Dobbin and Luke Smith (record producer), Luke Smith in 2003 and which signed to the Parlophone record label after only six gigs. The band released a Clor (album), se ...

), was released on 12 September 2011. In 2012 "Beginners", the final single from the album, was released. The video features actor (and Slow Club fan)

Daniel Radcliffe Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989) is an English actor. Radcliffe rose to fame at age twelve for portraying the title character in the ''Harry Potter'' film series. He starred in all eight films in the series, from '' Harry Potter a ...

. Slow Club have toured extensively around UK, Europe, US, Australia and Japan and played major UK festivals, including

Glastonbury festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

Latitude festival Latitude Festival is an annual music and arts festival set within the grounds of Henham Park, near Southwold, Suffolk, England. The first edition of the festival took place in 2006 and has continued annually (apart from 2020 when it was cancel ...

and

Green Man Festival The Green Man Festival is an independent music, science and arts festival held annually in mid-August in the Brecon Beacons, Wales. Green Man has evolved into a 25,000 capacity week long event, showcasing predominantly live music (in particular ...

. They have supported acts such as

KT Tunstall Kate Victoria "KT" Tunstall (born 23 June 1975) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and musician. She first gained attention with a 2004 live solo performance of her song "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on ''Later... with Jools Holland'', and h ...

Florence and the Machine Florence and the Machine (stylised as Florence + the Machine) are an English indie rock band formed in London in 2007 by lead vocalist Florence Welch, keyboardist Isabella Summers, guitarist Rob Ackroyd, drummer Christopher Lloyd Hayden and harp ...

and

Mumford and Sons Mumford may refer to: Places ;In the United States *Mumford, Missouri, an unincorporated community *Mumford, New York, a hamlet in the town of Wheatland, New York *Mumford, Texas, an unincorporated community *Mumford High School in Detroit, Michi ...

. They often collaborated with other musicians, such as Sweet Baboo, during live shows. In spring 2013 the band went back into the studio with Colin Elliot (who has worked with

Richard Hawley Richard Willis Hawley (born 17 January 1967) is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. After his first band Treebound Story (formed while he was still at school) broke up, Hawley found success as a member of Britpop band Long ...

) and started recording their third album. The album ''Complete Surrender'' was released on 14 July 2014. The band's touring line-up included long-time drummer Avvon Chambers and bassist Rob Jones. They were also occasionally joined by

Fyfe Dangerfield Fyfe Antony Dangerfield Hutchins (born 7 July 1980) is an English musician and songwriter, best known as the founding member of the indie rock band Guillemots (band), Guillemots. Early life Born in Moseley, Birmingham, in 1980, he moved to Bro ...

. The band released their fourth album ''One Day All of This Won't Matter Anymore'', recorded in Richmond, Virginia, in 2016. Following a tour between late 2016 and early 2017, the duo split up, with both working on solo projects. Taylor later discussed feeling unfulfilled by the joint project before the split. The tour was documented in the film ''Our Most Brilliant Friends'' directed by Piers Dennis. As of July 2023, Charles Watson has released three solo albums: ''Now That I'm A River'' (2018), ''Yes'' (2022) and ''Yup'' (2023). Rebecca Lucy Taylor has released two studio albums under the stage name

Self Esteem Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth, abilities, or morals. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Macki ...

: ''Compliments Please'' and ''Prioritise Pleasure''.

Critical reception

Slow Club were generally well received by critics. ''

Metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

'' described the band and its music, "Charming two-part harmonies, scruffy pop melodies and bitingly aware lyrics mark out this endearing two-piece." Robin Murray for '' Clash'' wrote "Charles Watson and Rebecca Lucy Taylor built up a truly unique catalogue, four albums of joyous, heart-rending, and frequently under-rated songwriting".

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

References

External links

* {{Authority control English folk rock groups Musical groups established in 2006 Musical groups disestablished in 2017 English indie rock groups Musical groups from Sheffield English musical duos Caroline Records artists Wichita Recordings artists Moshi Moshi Records artists Male–female musical duos