AltScene

Slowdive

Slowdive is a dream pop/shoegaze band that formed in 1989 in Reading, England, United Kingdom. Signed to Creation Records in 1990 and initially championed by the British music press, the band scored a UK top forty entry with their debut album Just for a Day.

The band consists of Rachel Goswell (vocals/guitar), Neil Halstead (vocals/guitar), Nick Chaplin (bass), Christian Savill (guitar), and Simon Scott (drums, 1990-1994, 2014-present); additionally, Ian McCutcheon replaced Scott from 1994-1995. Goswell and Halstead had known each other since early childhood in Reading, Berkshire.

Initial demos were released as the Slowdive EP in late 1990; the band’s sound was influenced by the Cocteau Twins and Creation labelmates My Bloody Valentine, featuring heavy use of guitar effects and muted vocals. Reviews in Melody Maker and the NME were enthusiastic, and two further well-regarded EPs followed in 1991 (Morningrise & Holding Our Breath). Their debut LP Just for a Day was written and recorded in six weeks, and was generally felt to be a disappointment at the time. At the same time, the UK music press had started to pick up on the american grunge scene, and the more introspective sounds of Slowdive, labelmates Ride, Chapterhouse and other “shoegazing” bands had fallen from critical favour. American label SBK pushed back the release of Just for a Day after a disastrous viral marketing campaign (involving vandalism of a public statue). In early 1992, the band toured the USA with Ride, and then returned to the UK to record a second album.

The band’s second album, Souvlaki, would later become generally the band’s most popular and well-received record. The album broke new ground for the band: two songs featured contributions from Brian Eno; “Souvlaki Space Station” was influenced by dub reggae; tracks such as “Dagger” and “Here She Comes” would become indications of the country-rock direction Halstead and Goswell would take a few years later; and several songs such as “When the Sun Hits” and “Alison” continued the style of the first album, but with improved songwriting. Initial copies of the UK version came with Blue Day, a compilation of most of the early EP tracks originally released as a separate album in Japan and some European countries. Later in the year, the band also released the 5 EP, containing four songs showcasing the influence of ambient techno; the lead track “In Mind” was also remixed by Bandulu and Reload (both then signed to Creation’s dance label).

As with the first album, SBK delayed Souvlaki’s release, and the band found themselves touring the USA in the summer of 1993 as Catherine Wheel’s supporting act with no product to promote. The US version of Souvlaki was eventually released in early 1994, and included “Some Velvet Morning” (originally recorded for the Volume 7 compilation) and three of the tracks from the 5 EP. When Slowdive were finally able to tour America to support the album, SBK withdrew their funding halfway through; two further tours in 1994 were entirely funded by the band.

Simon Scott left amidst creative differences in 1994; he was replaced on drums by Ian McCutcheon. The band had almost become a Halstead solo project by the recording of their final album, 1995’s Pygmalion. A critically misunderstood and widely-misinterpreted “ambient” record, Pygmalion took the dreamy guitar sound and warm-yet-solemn tone of earlier Slowdive to a newer, more minimalist extreme, similar to earlier dream pop bands such as A R Kane, or bands such as Labradford.

Slowdive was dropped by Creation in 1995 a week after the release of Pygmalion; Halstead had been warned before the recording of the album that the relationship with the label would end unless he delivered a “pop album”. A legend arose that the band was dropped due to the Gallagher brothers refusing to sign Oasis to Creation if Slowdive and their counterparts remained on the label’s roster, although Oasis had in fact released their debut single almost a year before Pygmalion.

After being dropped from Creation, Slowdive eventually went on hiatus later in 1995. Neil Halstead, Rachel Goswell and Ian McCutcheon recorded an album of country-influenced songs, and were signed to label 4ad, changing the band name to Mojave 3. Halstead and Goswell have also both released solo albums for 4AD.

Christian Savill went on to form Monster Movie, a dream pop group that continued where Slowdive left off. They have released three albums thus far, Last Night Something Happened (2002), To the Moon (2004), Transistor (2005), and—most recently—All Lost (2006).

Simon Scott formed Televise in 2004, a group which developed the lengthy noise swells and experimental song structures that helped define shoegaze while also including a more electronic brand of indie rock.

Eventually, all of Slowdive’s albums were reissued in late 2005. Just For a Day included a bonus disc with all tracks from the first three EPs, and the three songs recorded for a John Peel session on 26 March 1991. Souvlaki included a bonus disc with all the remaining EP tracks, as well as “Some Velvet Morning” (originally recorded for a compilation). Pygmalion—which had become a collector’s item in the years since its release due to it never being issued in the USA—contained no extra material, however.

On January 28, 2014, following a 12-day countdown and the appearance of an official website and Twitter account for the band, Slowdive announced their reunion with the Just for a Day/Souvlaki-era line-up including Simon Scott as drummer. The band was confirmed the same day to be playing the 2014 Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, Spain.

PEOPLE WHO LIKE SLOWDIVE

Vargr80

New York
United States

Dec 22, 2024 01:35

s1lthia

Missouri
United States

Dec 22, 2024 01:22

amethystmoon

Virginia
United States

Dec 22, 2024 00:29

Max

Normandy
France

Dec 21, 2024 19:32

sxmtexx

Florida
United States

Dec 21, 2024 19:28

lemondropcrush

Virginia
United States

Dec 21, 2024 18:16

xmiux

Helsinki
Finland

Dec 21, 2024 14:16

Meltwithyou

Massachusetts
United States

Dec 20, 2024 20:48

Allyphant

Midlothian
United Kingdom

Dec 20, 2024 20:38

lucid.dreams.666

California
United States

Dec 20, 2024 10:11

Countess.Thickula

Florida
United States

Dec 19, 2024 23:29

despairsquid

West Yorkshire
United Kingdom

Dec 19, 2024 01:11

MoonSafari86

Suffolk
United Kingdom

Dec 14, 2024 21:30

Pazuzu

Derbyshire
United Kingdom

Dec 8, 2024 03:14

August_llv

Newvas
Morocco

Dec 5, 2024 14:02

LexaproDelirium

Venice
Italy

Nov 29, 2024 22:54

xoxaine

California
United States

Nov 24, 2024 02:31

upsidedown-turtle

London
United Kingdom

Nov 19, 2024 22:49

Ben Dark Wizard

Suffolk
United Kingdom

Nov 19, 2024 18:33

Persephone72

Derbyshire
United Kingdom

Nov 13, 2024 17:51

joystick operated

London
United Kingdom

Oct 26, 2024 11:40

Mayor of Necropolis

Weddell Sea
Antarctica

Oct 25, 2024 23:31

Khaosspirit

NRW, Bochum
Germany

Oct 20, 2024 20:11

emiisxn

Co. Londonderry
United Kingdom

Sep 24, 2024 08:51

Mystagogue

Michigan
United States

Sep 24, 2024 02:39

Cmurray94

New York
United States

Aug 14, 2024 20:19

ponder existence

Michigan
United States

Jun 19, 2024 18:07

hardynolan

New York
United States

Jun 19, 2024 00:09

nek0d3su

Buenos Aires
Argentina

Jun 14, 2024 00:16

SpaceMoog

London
United Kingdom

May 16, 2024 12:13

cookiedoughpro

West Yorkshire
United Kingdom

Apr 9, 2024 23:48

Tyndal

Mid Glamorgan
United Kingdom

Apr 3, 2024 20:55

nhoj

Dublin
Ireland

Mar 24, 2024 21:51

PanDevilMan

California
United States

Mar 1, 2024 08:25

Kennid2

California
United States

Jan 17, 2024 01:26

HeavenInYourHead

California
United States

Jan 15, 2024 02:17

kikikia

Utah
United States

Dec 1, 2023 16:51

NoNikVel

Indiana
United States

Nov 10, 2023 19:57

Miss, miss

Virginia
Bolivia

Sep 10, 2023 09:04

GabrielG

London
United Kingdom

Sep 7, 2023 23:33

codeine.hoe

California
United States

Aug 12, 2023 20:34

Astrophel

Okinawa
Japan

Jul 23, 2023 02:24

lunartwin

Arizona
United States

Jul 10, 2023 19:17

KookyCollector

Washington
United States

Jul 8, 2023 06:15

MyBloodyRomance

California
United States

Jun 25, 2023 21:11

morgue44

Georgia
United States

May 13, 2023 19:00

PerfectNeedle

Kent
United Kingdom

May 9, 2023 17:48

deathrockshawtyy

Nova Scotia
Canada

Apr 15, 2023 01:25

quasipensive

New York
United States

Mar 10, 2023 03:32

luvram

Texas
United States

Mar 8, 2023 06:36

IceblinkZach

Wisconsin
United States

Jan 25, 2023 21:48

HalfmanII

Lanarkshire
United Kingdom

Dec 13, 2022 21:28

santapaws

Tennessee
United States

Sep 25, 2022 19:15

Miss Delilah

New York
United States

Jul 11, 2022 18:53

agnes

Beijing
China

Jun 20, 2022 14:15

JoylessDivision

Rhode Island
United States

Jun 9, 2022 07:41

02phresh

New York
United States

May 22, 2022 03:42

MBVlover

Ohio
United States

Apr 3, 2022 02:18

d2810

Michigan
United States

Feb 4, 2022 10:08

r0seBl33d

Massachusetts
United States

Jan 28, 2022 18:01

Drake Skull

Texas
United States

Dec 13, 2021 03:46

rural goth

Pennsylvania
United States

Oct 3, 2021 21:36

H3LLB3NT

California
United States

Sep 20, 2021 04:57

Hilla_winter.tears

Turku
Finland

Sep 17, 2021 00:16

Bloody Lilith

Bila Tserkva
Ukraine

Aug 7, 2021 00:43

DeadBush

Heraklion, Crete
Greece

Jul 28, 2021 00:07

nymphetamine

Pennsylvania
United States

Jul 19, 2021 06:56

Geist

Selangor
Malaysia

Jul 13, 2021 02:12

glimmertwin

South Glamorgan
United Kingdom

Apr 22, 2021 12:48

Ecobuilder

Oregon
United States

Mar 12, 2021 04:17

Alan Redrum

Paris
France

Mar 3, 2021 12:48

NuuMagi

California
United States

Jan 31, 2021 07:54

DocMcFly94

Georgia
United States

Jan 14, 2021 02:17

Singerandbassist

West Midlands
United Kingdom

Jan 9, 2021 21:10

Orpheus

Middlesex
United Kingdom

Nov 10, 2020 22:19

angrychair

Riga
Latvia

Oct 30, 2020 19:38

Neoneoneo

Glamorgan
United Kingdom

Oct 5, 2020 20:48

Brent

Texas
United States

Sep 15, 2020 11:58

Jnnkdd

Stockholm
Sweden

Aug 28, 2020 09:12

erik.klopp

New York
United States

Aug 25, 2020 04:24