It’s cool, guys: I’m 33 years old. So I’m totally, fully licensed and bonded to walk around saying that “the 90’s were better” than this current shit-decade is. Which I do. All the time.
This fact also makes me, like, “super-credible” (my term) to go-off and start CAPS-LOCK-EFFUSING about the “triumphant” (in so much as that adjective could ever possibly apply to their extremely heavy & hazy, gloriously gloomy, and spectacularly-dour brand of soul-withering shoegaze) return of motherfucking Slowdive after 22 long years! (And thank god, too; I don’t know about you, but I’ve been nauseatingly peppy and upbeat in the interim.)
As you may recall, the “ridiculously-influential” (my term) English band — comprised of Neil Halstead (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Christian Savill (guitar), Nick Chaplin (bass), Rachel Goswell (vocals), and Simon Scott (drums, electronics) — haven’t emitted so much as a reverb-soaked peep together since 1995’s Pygmalian. Then, back in 2014, they suddenly resurfaced for some rounds of touring before announcing last year that a brand new album was underway.
Which brings us back up to NOW: January 12, 2017, the day the band has announced that they’ve signed with the Dead Oceans label for their new release. No official word on release dates or album titles or tracklists or anything like that just yet (gotta tease all this out when you’re freakin’ Slowdive, I guess), but… that’s okay. Cuz more importantly, they also unleashed the album’s first taste on the dismal world of 2017 in the form of new single “Star Roving,” which is about as fat and ooey-gooey a slice of the five-layer shoegaze/post-rock cake that is this band as you’re likely to find.
“It’s taken us a whole load of shows and a few false starts to get to that point [of making new music], but it’s with pride and a certain trepidation we unleash ‘Star Roving’,” says a mighty-humble sounding Halstead. “It’s part of a bunch of new tracks we’ve been working on and it feels as fun, and as relevant playing together now as it did when we first started. We hope folks enjoy it.”
Gee, sounds great. I can’t WAIT to hear what the song sounds like when the CD finally comes out at Best Buy and/or I catch the music video at 2 AM on MTV… OH WAIT. IT’S STREAMING (NOT TO MENTION AVAILABLE FOR INSTANTANEOUS PURCHASE) ALL-THE-FUCK OVER THE PLACE RIGHT NOW. 2017 just might have a few slight advantages over the halcyon 90s after all.