A listener's enjoyment of the new Slowdive will depend a lot on a listener's ability to sit down, shut up, and pay attention to what's being played. Because this is a contemplative record. Everything is Alive, out Friday via Dead Oceans, is the follow-up to the band's 2017 self-titled release. That one charmed me, and this one sort of transfixed me.
Everything is Alive is serene in tone, the surfaces of this release hiding emotions, sure, but also a turn towards electronic textures, which is a change from the last album. "Shanty" opens things with an "Autobahn"-ish sleekness, before the warmth of "Prayer Remembered" eases itself into our ears. The track is minimal, with guitar-lines from Neil Halstead tracing a path towards the skies, while "Alife" is a bit more buoyant. The precise "Andalucia Plays" lets Halstead take over on lead vocals, and the cut recalls the best Yo La Tengo numbers from the last 10 years. I like to think that the title is a reference to the final track on John Cale's Paris 1919 album, which would make a kind of stylistic sense here. Everything is Alive is chamber pop in a way, maybe even devotional rock, given how contemplative the whole experience is.
Things achieve a kind of momentum towards the end of the record, but despite the coiled fury in the fine "Chained to a Cloud" and "The Slab", Everything is Alive is a release to get lost in. This whole Slowdive offering reimagines their approach, taking the down-tempo style of Halstead and Goswell's Mojave 3 and adding in the kind of aspirational force, like that which fueled the pair's fine Soft Cavalry LP a couple of years ago. There's a stillness and heart here that is captivating. And I found myself liking this record more than similar releases from other bands which are not named Slowdive. That may be down to attitude. The players here do not belabor any moment, letting the drama creep out of what's not played or not sung, even as the swells here -- electronic or otherwise -- push this forward towards the sun. Which is a fancy way of saying I really found this sort of quietly uplifting.
Everything is Alive by Slowdive is out on Friday via Dead Oceans.
[Photo: Parri Thomas]