Slowdive - everything is alive (September 1, 2023) Album

trevorshmevor · Jun 20, 2023

1. shanty
2. prayer remembered
3. alife
4. andalucia plays
5. kisses
6. skin in the game
7. chained to a cloud
8. the slab

The fifth album from shoegaze giants Slowdive contains the duality of a familiar internal language mixed with the exaltation of new beginnings. everything is alive is transportive, searching and aglow, the work of a classic band continuing to pitch its unmistakable voice to the future. Six years after the group’s monumental self-titled album, everything is alive finds Slowdive—vocalists and guitarists Rachel Goswell and Neil Halstead, guitarist Christian Savill, bassist Nick Chaplin, and drummer Simon Scott—locating evermore contours of its immersive, elemental sound.

The new record began with Halstead in the role of writer and producer, working on demos at home. Experimenting with modular synths, Halstead originally conceived of everything is alive as a “more minimal electronic record.” Slowdive’s collective decision-making ultimately drew the group back towards their signature reverb-drenched guitars, but that first concept seeped into the compositions. “As a band, when we’re all happy with it, that tends to be the stronger material,” Halstead says. “We’ve always come from slightly different directions, and the best bits are where we all meet in the middle.” The convergence of five unique characters has made the sound. “Slowdive is very much the sum of its parts,” Goswell adds. “Something unquantifiable happens when the five of us come together in a room.”

The group’s projected studio sessions for everything is alive, in April 2020, were naturally scrapped, and when the group finally did meet up, six months later, at Courtyard Studio, where they’ve historically recorded, the mood was jubilant. (Finally, they had a proper reason to leave the house.) That was the beginning of a multi-year recording process, which moved from Oxfordshire and into the Wolds of Lincolnshire and back to Neil’s own Cornish studio before extending into February 2022, when the band brought in mixer Shawn Everett (The War On Drugs, SZA, Alvvays) to mix six of the record’s eight tracks.

Owing to their deep history, there’s a palpable familial energy to Slowdive in 2023. everything is alive is dedicated to Goswell’s mother and Scott’s father, who both died in 2020. “There were some profound shifts for some of us personally,” Goswell says. Those crossroads are reflected in the many-layered emotional tenor of Slowdive’s music; everything is alive is heavy with experience, but each note is poised, wise, and necessarily pitched to hope. Its unique alchemy subtly embodies both sadness and gratitude, groundedness and uplift. Reflecting on “kisses,” which may be Slowdive’s surest pop moment yet, Halstead said, “It wouldn’t feel right to make a really dark record right now. The album is quite eclectic emotionally, but it does feel hopeful.”

everything is alive, is exactly what the title suggests: an exploration into the shimmering nature of life and the universal touch points within it. Spanning psychedelic soundscapes, pulsating 80’s electronic elements and John Cale inspired journeys, the album lands immediately as something made for the future; which figures, as their fanbase has grown younger and younger as time has gone on, and their influence on forward thinking musical artists continues to prevail.

For a genre that is often thought of as divisive, and often warrants introspection, here Slowdive show their craft as the masters of it by pushing it outwards, beyond the singular; the end result being a record which feels as emotional and cathartic as it is optimistic.

PRE-ORDER (Secretly Store)
PRE-ORDER (Bandcamp)
PRE-ORDER (Rough Trade)

trevorshmevor · Jun 20, 2023

Slowdive 2023 Tour Dates:
06/24 – Exeter, UK @ Phoenix
06/25 – Somerset, UK @ Glastonbury Festival
07/17 – Perth, AU @ Astor Theatre
07/19 – Brisbane, AU @ Princess Theatre
07/21 – Sydney, AU @ Enmore Theatre
07/22 – Melbourne, AU @ Forum
07/23 – Adelaide, AU @ Hindley St. Music Hall
07/26 – Auckland, NZ @ Powerstation
07/29 – Niigata Prefecture, JP @ Fuji Rock Festival
08/05 – Mysłowice, PL @ Off Festival
08/11 – Sicily, IT @ Ypsigrock Festival
08/18 – Brecon Beacon, UK @ Green Man Festival
09/23 – Toronto, ON @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre
09/25 – Boston, MA @ Citizens House of Blues Boston
09/27 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall
09/28 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall
09/29 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
09/30 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
10/02 – Cleveland, OH @ The Roxy @ Mahall’s
10/03 – Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre
10/04 – St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre
10/06 – Denver, CO @ Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom
10/07 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Union
10/09 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
10/10 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo
10/12 – San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
10/14 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether
10/30 – Glasgow, UK @ QMU
10/31 – Manchester, UK @ Ritz
11/01 – Bristol, UK @ SWX
11/03 – London, UK @ Troxy
11/05 – Belfast, UK @ Mandela Hall
11/06 – Dublin, IR @ National Stadium

Ticket sales start 6/23

Leftandleaving · Jun 20, 2023

Yup

phaynes12 · Jun 20, 2023

sick

Contender · Jun 20, 2023

Let’s fucking go

Aaron Mook · Jun 20, 2023

Currently checking out new Sigur Ros, should transition nicely into this

SmashRipsaw · Jun 20, 2023

Gorgeous song.

jpmalone4 · Jun 20, 2023

So excited! Really hoping I can catch this tour

waking season · Jun 20, 2023

Here for it. Going to try to catch the Toronto show

DarkHotline · Jun 20, 2023

Love the new single, fucking here for this

mattav152 · Jun 20, 2023

incredible track, instantly preordered the rough trade pink

cashlion · Jun 20, 2023

Lovely single. Now I need to decide between Cleveland, Chicago, and DC.

trevorshmevor · Jun 20, 2023

mattav152 said:

incredible track, instantly preordered the rough trade pink

Is this just sold out or something? I don’t see it on their site, the only pink I see is the UK indie that runs a cool $100 to reach Oregon lol

mattav152 · Jun 20, 2023

trevorshmevor said:

Is this just sold out or something? I don’t see it on their site, the only pink I see is the UK indie that runs a cool $100 to reach Oregon lol

Yep looks like it sold out, when I was on the site that pink press was labeled as "going fast". I got in there pretty early this morning too.

trevorshmevor · Jun 20, 2023

mattav152 said:

Yep looks like it sold out, when I was on the site that pink press was labeled as "going fast". I got in there pretty early this morning too.

Ah, got it. Maybe for the better. I snagged the gold w/ signed print last night and my irresponsible ass would be copping a second if the pink was still around lol

congruence · Jun 20, 2023

Been bumping self titled, forgot this way dropping today so I shall Segway in from this

Cameron · Jun 20, 2023

Can’t wait

Aaron Mook · Jun 20, 2023

Very good single, gonna spin self-titled now

Leftandleaving · Jun 20, 2023

Let’s fucking go

trevorshmevor · Jun 20, 2023

I know 8-10 weeks is pretty standard for a rollout but man it’s gonna be hard to not overexpose myself to this and any of the other eight (8) songs that may release prior to Sept 1st

DarkHotline · Jun 20, 2023

Aaron Mook said:

Very good single, gonna spin self-titled now

An all-timer comeback album, haters can meet me outside if they wanna fight about it.

mattav152 · Jun 21, 2023

any presale code for tour out there???

mattav152 · Jun 21, 2023

oh shit jk found it, its ALIVE for anyone wondering

trevorshmevor · Jun 21, 2023

Portland tickets copped. Can’t wait, perfect time of year for it too

mattav152 · Jun 26, 2023

Kisses @ Glastonbury:

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