Slowdive’s new album is finished
Shoegaze icons Slowdive have been working on the follow-up to 2017's wonderful self-titled comeback throughout the pandemic, and it's finally done. Guitarist Neil Halstead casually broke the news while appearing on Australian podcast Six Pack. "We've literally just finished another record," Neil told hosts Gareth Pardon and Ryan Matthew Merry. "That will be out at some point, not sure when. We just finished it."
That's all the details Halstead gave, but when asked about the band's creative process, he offered this insight in reference to the new album. "A lot of the one we just finished was me bringing in demos, then we work on those demos instead of rerecording stuff, which you can do quite easily these days," Halstead said. "It's collaborative but it's almost like I'm the producer, to get something everyone's happy with, making five people happy. It's definitely not my record even if the impetus might be my songs. The references I brought in were electronic based, because that's where I'm coming from these days but then it will slowly work its way back to being an indie guitar thing. Sometimes I'm a bit disappointed because all the keyboards will disappear and my synthwave album has just gone out the window. Which is probably a good thing. In some ways everyone in the band comes from a different perspective. We've always been a bit like that and the best stuff is when we all go 'that's sounding good.' That's where Slowdive works best." You can listen to the whole podcast episode, which is about music of the year 1988, below. Halstead's interview starts around the 20 minute mark.
Slowdive are set to play their first show of 2023 next week in Melbourne, one of a few Australian dates they have before they jumping to Japan for Fuji Rock 2023. Hopefully they will be playing at least one new song. All dates are listed below.
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SLOWDIVE - 2023 TOUR DATES
22 April 23: Daydream - Melbourne, Australia
23 April 23: The Gov - Adelaide, Australia
24 April 23: Astor Theatre - Perth, Australia
27 April 23: Metro Theatre - Sydney, Australia
29 April 23: Daydream - Sydney, Australia
30 April 23: Daydream - Brisbane, Australia
28-30 July 23: Fuji Rock Festival - Naeba Ski Resort, Japan
10-13 August 23: Ypsig Rock Festival - Sicily, Italy
17-20 August 23: Green Man festival, UK