Slowdive is a British rock band that formed in
Reading, Berkshire
Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...
, in 1989. The band consists of
Rachel Goswell
Rachel Ann Goswell (born 16 May 1971) is an English singer-songwriter and musician who rose to prominence as vocalist and guitarist of the shoegaze band Slowdive, which formed in 1989. Goswell, along with Neil Halstead, Ian McCutcheon and fo ...
on vocals and guitar,
Neil Halstead
Neil Halstead (born 7 October 1970) is an English musician, widely known as singer, primary lyricist, and guitarist of shoegaze band Slowdive. He has been hailed by AllMusic as "one of Britain's most respected songwriters", and '' Time Out'' as ...
on vocals and guitar,
Christian Savill
Christian Savill (born 6 December 1970) is an English musician best known for his work as guitarist of Slowdive.
Early life
Born in Bury, Lancashire, Savill did not grow up in a musical family, but influenced by The Smiths (and specifically ...
on guitar, Nick Chaplin on bass and
Simon Scott on drums, all of whom have played on the band's debut ''
Just for a Day
''Just for a Day'' is the debut studio album by English rock band Slowdive. It was released on 2 September 1991 by Creation Records.
Recording
''Just for a Day'' was recorded at Courtyard Studios, formerly known as Georgetown Studios, in Abin ...
'' in 1991. Halstead is the band's primary songwriter.
Goswell and Halstead had known each other since early childhood. The band is one of the most prominent within the
shoegaze
Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...
scene, which rose to prominence in England during the early 1990s. While the band's second album ''
Souvlaki
Souvlaki ( el, σουβλάκι, , ; plural: , ), is a popular Greek fast food consisting of small pieces of meat and sometimes vegetables grilled on a skewer. It is usually eaten straight off the skewer while still hot. It can be served with ...
'' initially received mixed reviews upon release, it has since been recognized as one of the best releases of the 1990s and one of the greatest shoegaze albums of all time.
The band broke up soon after the release of their third album ''
Pygmalion
Pygmalion or Pigmalion may refer to:
Mythology
* Pygmalion (mythology), a sculptor who fell in love with his statue
Stage
* ''Pigmalion'' (opera), a 1745 opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau
* ''Pygmalion'' (Rousseau), a 1762 melodrama by Jean-Jacques ...
'' in 1995, having seen Scott, Savill and Chaplin all depart the band prior. The remaining members continued under a more folk and country-influenced direction as
Mojave 3
Mojave 3 were a British rock band consisting of former Slowdive members Neil Halstead (vocals, guitar), Rachel Goswell (vocals, guitar) and Ian McCutcheon (drums) alongside keyboardist Alan Forrester and former Chapterhouse guitarist Simon Ro ...
. Slowdive reunited in 2014 to play the
Primavera Sound
Primavera Sound (commonly referred to as simply Primavera) is an annual music festival held in Parc del Fòrum in Barcelona, Spain that takes place between the end of May and beginning of June. The first edition took place in 2001 in Poble Espany ...
festival, and released a
self-titled
An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''.
Usage of the word
The term ''epon ...
album in 2017, their first in 22 years.
History
1989–1991: Formation and early EPs
Slowdive was formed in
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
, England, by
Neil Halstead
Neil Halstead (born 7 October 1970) is an English musician, widely known as singer, primary lyricist, and guitarist of shoegaze band Slowdive. He has been hailed by AllMusic as "one of Britain's most respected songwriters", and '' Time Out'' as ...
and
Rachel Goswell
Rachel Ann Goswell (born 16 May 1971) is an English singer-songwriter and musician who rose to prominence as vocalist and guitarist of the shoegaze band Slowdive, which formed in 1989. Goswell, along with Neil Halstead, Ian McCutcheon and fo ...
in October 1989. The two sang and played guitar, and had been friends since they were 6 years old. At a Sunday youth group, they began making music in an
indie pop
Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...
band called the Pumpkin Fairies, with bassist Mike Cottle and drummer Adrian Sell. When the Pumpkin Fairies disbanded, Slowdive formed, also including drummer Adrian Sell and Sell's friend, bassist Nick Chaplin. A third guitarist named Christian Savill, previously of the band Eternal, joined when he became the only person to answer an advert from the band. The ad called for a female guitarist, but Savill wanted to join so badly he offered to wear a dress. He was subsequently recruited.
[Watson (2005a), p. 2] The name "Slowdive" was inspired by two events: a dream Chaplin experienced, and a conversation he had with Goswell, who suggested "
Slowdive
Slowdive is a British rock band that formed in Reading, Berkshire, in 1989. The band consists of Rachel Goswell on vocals and guitar, Neil Halstead on vocals and guitar, Christian Savill on guitar, Nick Chaplin on bass and Simon Scott on d ...
", the name of a single by one of her favourite bands,
Siouxsie and the Banshees
Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. ''Q'' magazine in ...
.
The band quickly recorded a demo and several months later played a show with the band
Five Thirty
Five Thirty, sometimes written 5:30 and 5:30!, were a three-piece rock band from London, England, briefly popular in the early 1990s. Martin C. Strong, ''The Great Indie Discography''. 2nd edition. London: Canongate, 2003.
Tara Milton and Nick ...
. Steve Walters, head of
A&R at
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...
, had attended the show. Afterward, he approached Savill and requested one of their demos. Slowdive signed to
Creation Records
Creation Records Ltd. was a British independent record label founded in 1983 by Alan McGee, Dick Green, and Joe Foster. Its name came from the 1960s band The Creation, whom McGee greatly admired. The label ceased operations in 1999, although ...
shortly after. The average age of the band was 19 at the time.
Sell felt things were progressing too fast and left for university after being in the band for about six months.
A
self-titled EP was released in November 1990 and received praise from music critics.
''Slowdive'' was actually their original demo; the band had preferred the older recordings after feeling disillusioned with their studio craft.
[Watson (2005a), p. 4] In a glowing recommendation, ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' staff member Simon Williams wrote "Slowdive have banished the barrier restricting creativity... When they really relax, Slowdive can make
Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins was a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981 and replacing Heggie with multi-instrum ...
sound like
Mudhoney
Mudhoney is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1988, following the demise of Green River. Its members are singer and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison and drummer Dan Peters. Orig ...
". ''
Melody Maker
''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...
'' awarded the EP its "Single of the Week" award, an accolade the band's next two EPs received.
Drummer Neil Carter joined from fellow Reading band the Colour Mary in time to play on the ''Morningrise'' EP, but left prior to its release in February 1991.
Simon Scott took over on drums after his previous group, an alternative rock band called
the Charlottes
The Charlottes were a female fronted indie pop band from Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire in England, formed in 1988.
History
The band formed in 1988, initially as The Giant Polar Bears, comprising Petra Roddis (vocals), Graham Gargiulo (guitar), David ...
, broke up.
The ''Holding Our Breath'' EP followed in June 1991,
reaching No. 52 in the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
,
while the single "Catch the Breeze" topped the
UK Indie Chart
The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rele ...
.
1991–1992: ''Just for a Day''
By mid-1991, Slowdive had been tagged a "
shoegazing
Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...
" band and part of "
the scene that celebrates itself
Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...
" by the British media.
The term shoegazer was applied to bands that followed
My Bloody Valentine's example of abrasive guitars and ethereal vocals,
while "the scene" represented these like-minded groups and their social behaviour; shoegazers typically mingled at each other's gigs.
Slowdive toured with other shoegazing bands through summer 1991. The British music press became increasingly derisive of shoegazing as the
Britpop
Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the ...
and
grunge
Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...
movements came underway.
Production on Slowdive's debut commenced shortly after Halstead convinced
Alan McGee
Alan John McGee (born 29 September 1960) is a Scottish businessman and music industry executive. He has been a record label owner, musician, manager, and music blogger for ''The Guardian''. He co-founded the independent Creation Records label, r ...
, head of Creation Records, that the band had enough songs written for a full-length album, which was not actually true. The group hurriedly started writing songs in the studio. Experimentation with sounds and
cannabis
''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: ''Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternatively ...
occurred during the process. Halstead drew lyrical inspiration from the abstract nature of the music. He recounted, "
ewent into a studio for six weeks and had no songs at the start and at the end we had an album".
Their debut, ''
Just for a Day
''Just for a Day'' is the debut studio album by English rock band Slowdive. It was released on 2 September 1991 by Creation Records.
Recording
''Just for a Day'' was recorded at Courtyard Studios, formerly known as Georgetown Studios, in Abin ...
'' was released in September 1991 and placed in the top 10 on the UK Indie Chart.
''NME'' gave the record a positive review,
but most of the press generally disliked the album as a backlash against shoegazing began.
As writer Peter Buckley put it, the album was "dismissed as dreary and lacking in ideas".
''Melody Maker'' writer Paul Lester railed against the debut, calling it a "major fucking letdown".
[Watson (2005a), p. 6] This backlash worsened when critics reevaluated shoegazing after the release of My Bloody Valentine's ''
Loveless'' in November 1991.
A tour of the United Kingdom followed in autumn 1991. Afterward, the group made their first visit to the United States and toured with
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
band
Blur. A tour of Europe followed in February 1992.
[Watson (2005b), p.2] Slowdive's US label
SBK Records
SBK Records was a record label, owned by Universal Music Group, that was currently part of the Capitol Music Group, where it is in hibernation. The label was founded in 1988 and during its time in activity existed as part of the EMI Group.
Histo ...
planned to release ''Just for a Day'' at the beginning of the year, but not before initiating a
viral marketing
Viral marketing is a business strategy that uses existing social networks to promote a product mainly on various social media platforms. Its name refers to how consumers spread information about a product with other people, much in the same way tha ...
campaign. The band's name was stenciled outside
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
and radio stations in New York. Fans stencilled their heads when Slowdive played in Manhattan. The campaign caused some controversy when a statue celebrating the end of slavery was unveiled and had the word "Slowdive" stencilled on it. SBK eventually pushed the release date back three months, which hurt the viral campaign.
[Watson (2005b), p. 4]
1992–1994: ''Souvlaki''
While they toured in early 1992 to support ''
Blue Day
''Blue Day'' is a compilation album by English shoegazing band Slowdive. It was released in 1992 on Creation Records and compiled the first three Slowdive EPs: ''Slowdive'' (missing the track "Avalyn II"), ''Morningrise'' (in its entirety), and ...
'', a re-release of their early EP material, the band began writing songs for a follow-up album, but the negative coverage Slowdive received in the press affected their songwriting. "
tdid affect us as we were all teenagers at the time", said Scott in a 2009 interview, "
ecouldn't understand why people were so outraged by our sound that they had to tell the NME or whoever that they wanted us dead!"
Approximately 40 songs were recorded and rerecorded as the group became very self-conscious of their writing and how it might be received. When McGee listened to the new material, he subsequently dismissed it, stating, "They're all shit". The band discarded all the music and started over.
In a 2009 interview, Halstead vividly recalled the incident: "I remember going to start the record in a studio in
Bath.
Spiritualized
Spiritualized (stylised as Spiritualized®) are an English rock band formed in 1990 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Jason Pierce (often known as J. Spaceman), formerly of Spacemen 3. After several line up-changes, in 1999, the band centered on Pierc ...
had just been there and left a huge
Scalextrix in the live room. I remember thinking this was the height of indulgence! Ironically we scrapped everything we recorded...we had to start the record again back in
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
. We should have just played with the Scalextrix for a month".
When the band returned to the UK, they wrote a letter to
ambient visionary
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...
and requested he produce their second album. Eno responded and told them he liked their music, but wanted to collaborate, not produce.
Halstead later called the recording session "one of the most surreal stoned experiences of
islife".
"The first thing he did when he walked into the studio was to rip the clock off the wall and put it by the
mixing desk
A mixing console or mixing desk is an electronic device for mixing audio signals, used in sound recording and reproduction and sound reinforcement systems. Inputs to the console include microphones, signals from electric or electronic instr ...
", Halstead remembered. "He then said 'Okay, you're going to play the guitar and I'm going to record it. I don't care what you are going to play, just play something.'" Two songs from the collaboration appeared on the ensuing album: "Sing", which was co-written with Eno, and "Here She Comes", where Eno played keyboards.
Creation Records wanted Slowdive to produce a commercial sounding album.
Halstead agreed: "We wanted to make a 'pop' record but it took a while to record".
At one point, Halstead suddenly left in summer 1992, seeking seclusion in a Welsh cottage. Savill, Chaplin and Scott were left in a recording studio in
Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmixon ...
, and while waiting for Halstead's return, recorded some "joke songs". To their misfortune, McGee acquired them and became despondent, by which time Halstead had arrived with new music, including "Dagger" and "40 Days."
The band named their second album ''
Souvlaki
Souvlaki ( el, σουβλάκι, , ; plural: , ), is a popular Greek fast food consisting of small pieces of meat and sometimes vegetables grilled on a skewer. It is usually eaten straight off the skewer while still hot. It can be served with ...
'' after a skit performed by
the Jerky Boys
The Jerky Boys are an American comedy act from Queens, New York City, New York, whose routine consists of prank telephone calls and other related skits. The duo was founded in 1989 by childhood friends Johnny Brennan and Kamal Ahmed. After Ahme ...
, an American comedy duo that recorded
prank phone calls.
''Souvlaki'' was released in May 1993 alongside the ''
Outside Your Room EP'',
a few months after
Suede
Suede (pronounced ) is a type of leather with a fuzzy, napped finish, commonly used for jackets, shoes, fabrics, purses, furniture, and other items. The term comes from the French , which literally means "gloves from Sweden". The term was fir ...
released their
popular debut and the Britpop movement began.
[Watson (2005b), p. 6] Critical reaction, as with their previous album, was generally negative. ''NME'' writer John Mulvey gave an ambivalent review. Despite noting their dated and "unfulfilling" sound, he did call it an "exemplary product". Dave Simpson, writing for ''Melody Maker'', declared, "
his
His or HIS may refer to:
Computing
* Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company
* Honeywell Information Systems
* Hybrid intelligent system
* Microsoft Host Integration Server
Education
* Hangzhou International School, in ...
record is a soulless void
..I would rather drown choking in a bath full of porridge than ever listen to it again".
To make matters worse, Slowdive booked a tour with fellow shoegazers
Catherine Wheel
Catherine wheel may refer to:
* wheel or breaking wheel, an instrument of torturous execution originally associated with Saint Catherine of Alexandria
* Catherine wheel (firework), a firework that rotates when lit
Arts and entertainment
* Cather ...
for a tour of the United States, only to find SBK had pushed the album's US release date back eight months. The band recorded an EP, titled ''5 EP'', and started a modest tour through Europe with dream pop band
Cranes. Scott was unhappy with the gap between releases and quit the band in 1994.
[Watson (2005c), p. 2]
A marketing campaign was started in early 1994 to promote ''Souvlaki'' in the United States, which ''
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
'' writer Andy Kellman said would "undoubtedly go down in industry history as one of the laziest ever"; SBK sent fans a release flyer and were told that if they copied and posted 50 flyers around town, they would receive a free copy of ''Souvlaki''. Fans who participated had to document their progress with photographs to prove they actually performed the activity.
Halfway through the ''Souvlaki'' US tour, SBK pulled their funding and left Slowdive to pay the rest themselves. In 1994, the band funded two small tours of the United States using money raised through the sale of a live tape and a tour programme that mocked the record label.
1994–1995: ''Pygmalion''
Scott was replaced on drums by Ian McCutcheon. By the recording of their final album, ''
Pygmalion
Pygmalion or Pigmalion may refer to:
Mythology
* Pygmalion (mythology), a sculptor who fell in love with his statue
Stage
* ''Pigmalion'' (opera), a 1745 opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau
* ''Pygmalion'' (Rousseau), a 1762 melodrama by Jean-Jacques ...
'', Halstead had moved Slowdive away from the dreamy guitar sound and warm yet solemn tone of earlier releases to a newer, more minimalist extreme, similar to heavily ambient bands such as
Seefeel
Seefeel are a British electronic and post-rock band formed in the early 1990s by Mark Clifford (guitar, programming), Daren Seymour (bass), Justin Fletcher (drums, programming), and Sarah Peacock (vocals, guitar). Their work became known for fu ...
,
A.R. Kane
A.R. Kane (sometimes AR Kane or A.R.Kane) was a British musical duo formed in 1986 by Alex Ayuli and Rudy Tambala. After releasing two early EPs to critical acclaim, the group topped the UK Independent Chart with their debut album '' 69'' (1988 ...
and
Labradford
Labradford is a U.S. post-rock musical group from Richmond, Virginia, founded in 1992.Strong, Martin C. (2003) "Labradford" in ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 827 They have released six full albums from 1993 to 2001. Though not ...
.
Slowdive were dropped by Creation a week after the release of ''Pygmalion'' (as were
Swervedriver
Swervedriver are an English alternative rock band formed in Oxford in 1989 around core members Adam Franklin and Jimmy Hartridge. Between 1989 and 1998, the band released four studio albums and numerous EPs and singles despite a considerable ...
not long after).
1995–2014: Post-Slowdive endeavours
Shortly after being dropped by Creation, Halstead, Goswell and McCutcheon recorded an album of country-influenced songs, and were signed to label
4AD, changing the band name to
Mojave 3
Mojave 3 were a British rock band consisting of former Slowdive members Neil Halstead (vocals, guitar), Rachel Goswell (vocals, guitar) and Ian McCutcheon (drums) alongside keyboardist Alan Forrester and former Chapterhouse guitarist Simon Ro ...
to reflect the new musical direction. This group is currently on hiatus.
Drummer Scott went on to form Televise, taking the ambient shoegazing sound and pushing it into electronic fields similar to
Fennesz
Christian Fennesz (born 25 December 1962) is an Austrian producer and guitarist active in electronic music since the 1990s, often credited simply by his last name. His work utilizes guitar and laptop computers to blend melody with treated sample ...
. He joined
Lowgold
Lowgold are an English indie rock band formed in 1997 in St Albans, comprising vocalist and rhythm guitarist Darren Ford, lead guitarist Dan Symons and bassist Miles Willey.
The band originally claimed that the word "lowgold" was derived from ...
in 1999. Scott later went on to release solo records on the
12k, Miasmah, Sonic Pieces and
Kompakt
Kompakt (Labelcode: LC 12012) is a Cologne-based electronic music independent record label and vinyl/CD distributor, owned by Wolfgang Voigt, Michael Mayer (musician), Michael Mayer and Jürgen Paape. They specialize in microhouse and minimal t ...
labels, and co-write and perform with
Ghostly International
Ghostly International is an American independent record label founded in 1999 by Samuel Valenti IV and currently headquartered in Brooklyn, New York City. Chief artists include Matthew Dear, Dabrye (a.k.a. Tadd Mullinix), Com Truise, Tycho, Gol ...
-signed Seattle band
the Sight Below
The Sight Below is an American ambient techno/ shoegaze act from Seattle, Washington. Its main member is the American post-minimalist composer Rafael Anton Irisarri.
Sam Valenti IV signed The Sight Below to his Ghostly International imprint in ...
.
Savill went on to form
Monster Movie
A monster movie, monster film, creature feature or giant monster film is a film that focuses on one or more characters struggling to survive attacks by one or more antagonistic monsters, often abnormally large ones. The film may also fall under ...
, a dream pop group that maintained much of the older Slowdive style. They have released four albums and an EP to date. Pre-Slowdive, Savill was in a band called Eternal, which also included Monster Movie member Sean Hewson.
Halstead and Goswell have both released solo albums on 4AD, and Halstead formed the side project Black Hearted Brother in 2013. Goswell joined the supergroup
Minor Victories
Minor Victories are a British alternative rock supergroup formed in 2015. The band members are vocalist Rachel Goswell (Slowdive), guitarists Stuart Braithwaite (Mogwai) and Justin Lockey (Editors), and film-maker James Lockey of Hand Held Ci ...
in 2015.
Halstead also recorded with a side project called Zurich with members of
Seefeel
Seefeel are a British electronic and post-rock band formed in the early 1990s by Mark Clifford (guitar, programming), Daren Seymour (bass), Justin Fletcher (drums, programming), and Sarah Peacock (vocals, guitar). Their work became known for fu ...
and Knives ov Resistance; the trio's sole album was released in 2009.
2014–present: Reunion and future plans
![Neil Halsted Slowdive](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Neil_Halsted_Slowdive.jpg)
After a Slowdive
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
account and website were launched in January 2014, it was announced that Slowdive had reformed to play the 2014
Primavera Sound Festival
Primavera Sound (commonly referred to as simply Primavera) is an annual music festival held in Parc del Fòrum in Barcelona, Spain that takes place between the end of May and beginning of June. The first edition took place in 2001 in Poble Espan ...
in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
and
Porto
Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...
.
A 20-date summer world tour was announced, including performances at the
Electric Picnic Festival in
Stradbally
Stradbally () is a town in County Laois, Ireland, located in the midlands of Ireland along the N80 road, a National Secondary Route, about from Portlaoise. It is a townland, a civil parish and historic barony. It is known for its "Steam Ra ...
,
County Laois
County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medie ...
; the
FYF Fest
FYF Fest (short for "Fuck Yeah Fest Fest") was an annual three-day music festival held at the Los Angeles Exposition Park in Los Angeles, California. It was founded by Sean Carlson in 2004 and is now solely produced by Goldenvoice, a subsidiary o ...
in Los Angeles; the Fortress Festival in
Fort Worth
Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...
, Texas; the
Wave-Gotik-Treffen
The Wave-Gotik-Treffen (WGT; ) is an annual world festival for "dark" music and "dark culture" in Leipzig, Germany. 150+ bands and artists from various backgrounds ( gothic rock, gothic metal, EBM, industrial, noise, darkwave, neo-folk, ne ...
festival in
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
; the
Roskilde Festival
The Roskilde Festival is a Danish music festival held annually south of Roskilde. It is one of the largest music festivals in Europe and the largest in the Nordic countries. It was created in 1971 by two high school students and a promoter. In 1 ...
in Denmark; the Radar Festival in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
and the
Off Festival
OFF Festival is an alternative music festival series held annually since 2006. Until 2009 it was held at Słupna Park in Mysłowice, Poland in August and lasts four days. OFF Festival from 2010 takes place in Katowice in Dolina Trzech Stawow.
Th ...
in
Katowice
Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...
, Poland. A North American tour, also 20 dates, was announced for October and November 2014.
In January 2017, Slowdive released "Star Roving", their first single in 22 years, on
Dead Oceans
Dead Oceans is an American independent record label formed in 2007 and based in Bloomington, Indiana, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin. Dead Oceans is part of Secretly Group, which also ...
. Their
fourth, self-titled album, was released in May 2017, preceded by another single, "Sugar for the Pill".
As of September 2020, Slowdive are working on their fifth studio album. Details about a title, release date or tracklist are yet to be revealed.
Influences and style
Music writer
Simon Reynolds
Simon Reynolds (born 19 June 1963) is an English music journalist and author who began his professional career on the staff of ''Melody Maker'' in the mid-1980s. He has since gone on to freelance and publish a number of full-length books on music ...
wrote that "Halstead was more influenced by
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...
than by the
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...
. Slowdive's formative pop experiences involve post-punk groups like
The Cure
The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith has re ...
and Siouxsie and the Banshees, whose artsy approach was closer to '70s progressive groups than punk's angry minimalism".
Halstead stated that Slowdive wanted "to create something big and beautiful and sort of timeless".
Other names he mentioned were
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
,
the Byrds
The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...
,
the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
,
Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins was a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981 and replacing Heggie with multi-instrum ...
,
My Bloody Valentine and
the Jesus and Mary Chain
The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in East Kilbride in 1983. The band revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid. After signing to independent label Creation Records, they rele ...
's album ''
Psychocandy
''Psychocandy'' is the debut studio album by Scottish rock band the Jesus and Mary Chain. It was released in November 1985 on Blanco y Negro Records. The album is considered a landmark recording: its combination of guitar feedback and noise wit ...
''.
Their sound has been described as
dream pop
Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such as ...
,
shoegaze
Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with "dream pop") is a subgenre of indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion and effects, feedback, and overwhelming volu ...
,
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...
and
ambient.
Personnel
; Members
*
Neil Halstead
Neil Halstead (born 7 October 1970) is an English musician, widely known as singer, primary lyricist, and guitarist of shoegaze band Slowdive. He has been hailed by AllMusic as "one of Britain's most respected songwriters", and '' Time Out'' as ...
— vocals, guitar, keyboards (1989–1995, 2014–present)
*
Rachel Goswell
Rachel Ann Goswell (born 16 May 1971) is an English singer-songwriter and musician who rose to prominence as vocalist and guitarist of the shoegaze band Slowdive, which formed in 1989. Goswell, along with Neil Halstead, Ian McCutcheon and fo ...
— vocals, guitar, keyboards, tambourine (1989–1995, 2014–present)
* Nick Chaplin — bass (1989–1995, 2014–present)
*
Christian Savill
Christian Savill (born 6 December 1970) is an English musician best known for his work as guitarist of Slowdive.
Early life
Born in Bury, Lancashire, Savill did not grow up in a musical family, but influenced by The Smiths (and specifically ...
— guitar (1989–1995, 2014–present)
*
Simon Scott — drums (1991–1994, 2014–present); guitar, electronics (2014–present)
; Former members
* Adrian Sell — drums (1989–1990)
* Nick Carter — drums (1990–1991)
* Ian McCutcheon — drums (1994–1995)
Discography
*''
Just for a Day
''Just for a Day'' is the debut studio album by English rock band Slowdive. It was released on 2 September 1991 by Creation Records.
Recording
''Just for a Day'' was recorded at Courtyard Studios, formerly known as Georgetown Studios, in Abin ...
'' (1991)
*''
Souvlaki
Souvlaki ( el, σουβλάκι, , ; plural: , ), is a popular Greek fast food consisting of small pieces of meat and sometimes vegetables grilled on a skewer. It is usually eaten straight off the skewer while still hot. It can be served with ...
'' (1993)
*''
Pygmalion
Pygmalion or Pigmalion may refer to:
Mythology
* Pygmalion (mythology), a sculptor who fell in love with his statue
Stage
* ''Pigmalion'' (opera), a 1745 opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau
* ''Pygmalion'' (Rousseau), a 1762 melodrama by Jean-Jacques ...
'' (1995)
*''
Slowdive
Slowdive is a British rock band that formed in Reading, Berkshire, in 1989. The band consists of Rachel Goswell on vocals and guitar, Neil Halstead on vocals and guitar, Christian Savill on guitar, Nick Chaplin on bass and Simon Scott on d ...
'' (2017)
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
*
External links
*
Slowdive DiscographySlowdive DatabaseGigography
{{Authority control
Creation Records artists
English rock music groups
Shoegazing musical groups
Dream pop musical groups
Musical groups from Reading, Berkshire
Musical groups established in 1989
Musical groups disestablished in 1995
Musical groups reestablished in 2014
SBK Records artists
English indie rock groups
Musicians from Berkshire
Dead Oceans artists
1989 establishments in England