Stream: Slowdive, ‘Sugar for the Pill’

Kevin Bronson on March 28th, 2017

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That applause you heard this morning came from everybody who was around for the first wave of what is known as shoegazing. U.K. quintet Slowdive, who reunited in 2014 (and played FYF Fest that year), today announced that their new album — a self-titled affair and their first new music since 1995, would be out May 5 via Dead Oceans. They join several other notable pioneers of the genre who have re-booted in recent years to release music: My Bloody Valentine (2013’s album was their first in 22 years), Lush (whose brief reunion yielded a new EP last year), the Jesus and Mary Chain (whose new album “Damage and Joy,” their first in 19 years, came out last week) and Ride (whose new album “Weather Diaries,” their first in 21 years, comes out in June).

The echoes of Slowdive’s ethereal sound can be heard throughout indie music today, especially from those who regard the band’s second album, “Souvlaki” as a touchstone. Along with the album announcement, the band today released a dreamy new song “Sugar for the Pill,” which followed the album’s more up-tempo first blast “Star Roving.” Both fit neatly into Slowdive’s catalog without the feeling that they’re retracing their footsteps.

“It’s poppier than I thought it was going to be,” principal songwriter Neil Halstead says in announcing the album. “When you’re in a band and you do three records, there’s a continuous flow and a development. For us, that flow restarted with us playing live again and that has continued into the record.” The band — Halstead along with Christian Savill, Nick Chaplin, Rachel Goswell and Simon Scott — made the new album at their Oxfordshire home base, The Courtyard, and it was mixed by Chris Coady (Beach House) in L.A.

||| Stream: “Sugar for the Pill” and “Star Roving”