Our final feature artist for 2021 is one of the best shoegaze bands of all time.
Breaking their decades of hiatus with this stellar return record, Slowdive’s 2017 self-titled record embraces and expands the reverb-drenched atmospheres of the genre they helped create. This is done primarily through cleaner, crystalline production, which clarifies the guitars with glistening tones that sound more Interpol than MBV.
The shining licks on ‘Don’t Know Why’ show just how much the band can do with a few simple notes. Otherwise, the sparse closer ‘Falling Ashes’ leaves space for reflection by bringing the album to an almost ambient finish. And finally, there is ‘Sugar for the Pill’, which with its degrees of lament and melancholy craft one of the best new songs for the genre.
The self-titled is a powerful revision of the shoegaze genre as it brings the tropes and cornerstones full circle to cleaner, less muddy production. But it remains just as moving if not more so, as the band use their return to show that some things age like fine wine, with Slowdive being one of them.
'Slowdive' and other selected works are available in the Store now.