Ryan Fricke March 28th, 2017 - 9:48 AM
Photo Credit: Owen Ela
Slowdive has just announced that they will be making a huge return with their first new album in over two decades. The UK shoegaze pioneers will be releasing the self-titled album on May 5 via Dead Oceans label. In the meantime they have released a second single from the album with an accompanying video, seen below. The new single is titled “Sugar For The Pill” and follows the previously released “Star Roving.”
The video for the new single was produced by in/out and, according to a press release, takes its inspiration from the Slowdive album artwork. The artwork is a still from Harry Smith’s animation “Heaven and Earth Magic.” Known as a cult classic animation, its vast spiritual narrative has influenced artist since its release in 1957, with Slowdive being proof of this claim.
As for the new album, there was no intention of creating an album that would sound like the Slowdive you heard 22 years ago. A press release explains that the band created this album with the idea of satisfying the faithful “while beguiling a legion of fresh ears.” Neil Halstead, the band’s principal song writer, had this to say of the new album:
“When you’re in a band and you do three records,” Halstead explains. “There’s a continuous flow and a development. For us, that flow re-started with us playing live again and that has continued into the record.”
To usher in the announcement of their album release, the band has set up a secret show at London’s The Garage for tomorrow, March 29. The announcement for the show was made on Slowdive’s Facebook page earlier today, seen below. They chose this particular location because it is the venue that Slowdive played their final London show as their original incarnation back in December of 1993. This secret show will be available as a live stream at 4:10pm EST via their Facebook here. There are also a couple videos, included below, of the band debuting their two new singles at Glasgow on Monday night. This was their first live performance of 2017.
@Slowdiveband Quick blast of Slowdive's latest single Star Roving (live) at The Art School, Glasgow. #Slowdive #StarRoving #Shoegaze pic.twitter.com/JJEfBOsVSS
— David Carr (@carrzinho) March 27, 2017
Slowdive Tracklisting:
1. Slomo
2. Star Roving
3. Don’t Know Why
4. Sugar For The Pill
5. Everyone Knows
6. No Longer Making Time
7. Go Get It
8. Falling Ashes
Slowdive Tour Dates:
Buy tickets on Ticketmaster | Buy tickets on Ticketfly
Mon. March 27 – Glasgow, UK @ Art School – SOLD OUT
Tue. March 28 – Liverpool, UK @ Liverpool Arts Club – SOLD OUT
Wed. March 29 – London, UK @ The Garage
Thu. March 30 – Bristol, UK @ The Fleece – SOLD OUT
Fri. March 31 – The Hague, NL @ Rewire Festival
Sun. April 2 – Paris, FR @ Trabendo – SOLD OUT
Mon. April 3 – Berlin, DE @ Festsaal — SOLD OUT
Sun. April 30 – Fort Worth, TX @ Fortress Festival
Tue. May 2 – St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre
Wed. May 3 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theater # — SOLD OUT
Fri. May 5 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall # — SOLD OUT
Sat. May 6 – Montreal, QC @ L’Olympia
Sun. May 7 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club # — SOLD OUT
Mon. May 8 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel # — SOLD OUT
Tue. May 9 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
Wed. May 10 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
Thu. May 11 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
Sat. May 13 – Santiago, CL @ Fauna Otono
Sun. May 14 – São Paulo, BR @ Balaclava Fest
Fri. June 2 – Oxford, UK @ O2 Academy
Sat. June 3 – London, UK @ Field Day
Fri. June 16 – Sun. June 18 – Mannheim, DE @ Maifeld Derby
Fri. July 7 – Madrid, ES @ Mad Cool Festival
Fri. July 21 – Sun. July 23 – Los Angeles, CA @ FYF Fest
Thu. Aug. 31 – Salisbury, UK @ End of the Road Festival
