everything is alive. Slowdive

Until fairly recently Slowdive was just a name for me, nothing more. It turns out the band made three records in the 1990s, that now have a legendary status, disbanded and came back in 2017 with a well received album and in 2023 with everything is alive. This new album receives unanimously good reviews, as far as I'm aware.

For me 'shanty', the opening track of everything is alive, is like a trip. Dreamy vocals are supported by a slow pulsing keyboard, soft drumming and a guitar that is as restful as present. 'shanty' is a song to surrender to but can be quite scary at moments when a loud guitar explodes, despite being mixed somewhere to the mid-range of the whole song. An effect that makes the music of Slowdive immediately interesting and intriguing, making me want to hear more.

Despite the hiatus of almost two decades the band returned with the four original members and one of the ex-drummers in the line up. As this is my introduction to the band, I have no way of comparing new and old. The 20 somethings will have become 50 somethings. The music has the contemplation in it that comes with getting older. A title like 'prayer remembered', indicates contemplation, the music underscores tis. This instrumental song slowly but surely plays itself out. Dreamy, as if in a state of being somewhere in between. Being and not being.

In general, the music of Slowdive falls into place for me as belonging to the postpunk of the early 1980s, like the faintest trace of The Cure, in combination with the dreampop of the decades up till now. What the band brings as extra, is the flowing quality in the songs. A flow that can bring the listener in a trance, like in 'alife', where, again, a louder guitar rocks the boat a little. 'alife' is alive. The song contains a joie de vivre, a benign smile on the face, a bustling on the forest's floor.

Slowdive is associated with shoegaze or so I understand. Now I have missed out on this musical niche totally in the 1990s, but from what I heard later on, there's not much left of the association in 2023. A song like 'andalusia plays' comes closer to the slowcore of Low than loud gravelly guitars.

Fans of music from the past 40 plus years will find a lot to their liking on everything is alive. Recognition certainly is an important feature of the album. Slowdive knows to add its own elements and somehow creates a feeling within me that Dutch artist Spinvis did with his phenomenal new album 'Be-Bop-A-Lu-La'. People in the U.K. and beyond, here's a tip to check out something beyond your language comfort zone!

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order everything is alive here:

https://slowdive.bandcamp.com/album/everything-is-alive