Photo Credit: Owen Ela
English rockers Slowdive have since come out of the woodwork to put out a new track, “Star Roving,” making it the first bit of new music fans have been blessed with in over 22 years since the release of their last album, Pygmalion (1995).
The track embodies the effortlessness that fans of Slowdive first fell in love with. The layers of strumming guitars and drums along with the distorted vocals all bleed into each other to create a wall of sound, where no instrument feels overpowering or less important. The various layers combine to create a flooding of sound that feels never-ending, until the track completely folds in itself for a brief moment, highlighting the emptiness of space only to open up again, taking us along for the ride through the infinite.
The new track comes after 22 years of complete inactivity, forcing fans to lay one of their favorite bands to rest. In 2014, however, the band decided to get back together, with new music as a priority, though this luscious track was not an easy point to get to.
“When the band decided to get back together in 2014, we really wanted to make new music,” says lead vocalist Neil Halstead. “It’s taken us a whole load of shows and a few false starts to get to that point.”
Despite the sluggish start, the band feels confident in the new track.
“It’s with pride and a certain trepidation we unleash ‘Star Roving.’ 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.”
While there is no timetable for their new project other than “2017,” fans have enough to hold them over for more music to inevitably come, and can see the band in action at the Field Day Festival this year. Be sure to check out the new track below and keep an ear out for new tunes to be released.