''Slowdive'' is the fourth
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
by English
rock band
Slowdive. It was released on 5 May 2017 by the record label
Dead Oceans.
It was Slowdive's first studio album in 22 years, following ''
Pygmalion'' (1995).
It was also the band's first album since ''
Souvlaki'' (1993) to feature the drummer
Simon Scott as a member.
''Slowdive'' was preceded by the singles "Star Roving", released on 12 January 2017, and "Sugar for the Pill", released on 28 March 2017.
The album artwork is a still image from avant-garde cut-out animation film, ''
Heaven and Earth Magic'' (1962), by beatnik artist and polymath
Harry Smith.
Critical reception
''Slowdive'' received acclaim from music critics. At
Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, which assigns a
normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an
average
In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...
score of 82, based on 30 reviews.
TJ Kliebhan of ''
Consequence'' found that Slowdive had "delivered a fresh
dream-pop sound that is still uniquely Slowdive", concluding that "''Slowdive'' delivers nearly everything their fans desire in a return: familiarity, innovation, and vast atmospheres to get lost in."
''
The Skinny''s Duncan Harman said that the album "represents an awareness of legacy, and the importance of not pissing all over it; to that extent, it's an essential addition to canon." ''
Drowned in Sound'' reviewer Dom Gourlay called ''Slowdive'' a "majestic return that doesn't just fill in the gaps, but points unflinchingly towards future horizons." Sean T. Collins of ''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials.
The term is also applie ...
'' said that the album "offers maximum-volume
shoegaze
Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with dream pop) is a subgenre of indie rock, indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion (music), distortion and effects, a ...
too, better than the band ever has before",
and Cam Lindsay of ''
Exclaim!
''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...
'' wrote that it "certainly was a long wait, but finally Slowdive have given us the album that we have been dreaming about for the last 22 years."
Accolades
Track listing
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.
Slowdive
*
Neil Halstead – vocals, guitars, keyboards, editing,
production
*
Rachel Goswell – vocals
*
Christian Savill – guitars
* Nick Chaplin – bass guitar
*
Simon Scott – drums, guitar, electronics
Additional personnel
*
Ian Davenport –
engineering
Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...
* Duncan Chave – additional engineering
* Martin Nichols – additional engineering
* Gareth Stuart – additional engineering
* Steve Clarke – additional vocal engineering
*
Chris Coady –
mixing
*
Sarah Tudzin – mixing (assistant)
*
Heba Kadry –
mastering
* Josh Bonati – vinyl cut
*
Harry Smith – cover art (from ''
Heaven and Earth Magic'')
* Ingrid Pop – inner sleeve photography,
art direction
Charts
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
2017 albums
Albums produced by Neil Halstead
Slowdive albums
Dead Oceans albums
Libera Award for Record of the Year