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Aug 19, 2016 Slow Club By Hays Davis

With the recording of their latest album, English duo Rebecca Taylor and Charles Watson of Slow Club embraced the notion that just because someone’s not a member of your Club doesn’t mean you can’t play well together.

Following their 2015 covers album, I Swam Out to Greet You, Taylor and Watson settled in with producer Matthew E. White at Spacebomb Studios in Richmond, Virginia. The duo encouraged Spacebomb’s in-house band to work out their own arrangements for the songs, where previously Slow Club have handled most of the instruments themselves. With many tracks played live in the studio with the Spacebomb crew, the result is a warm, inviting collection that showcases Slow Club’s chemistry while drawing their strengths to the fore.

The feel here is generally relaxed, and it seems to encourage Taylor and Watson to loosen up and fly. “Silver Morning” has a friendly, ‘80s soft-rock bounce, but the sonic approach is more like making a comfortable place to unwind than anything nearing kitsch. The reactivated Fleetwood Mac could probably make hay with a cover.

Taylor has a real spotlight moment with “Give Me Some Peace.” As the music drops to a low roll and builds toward what sounds like a classic soul breakdown, she handles the challenge and soars over the sky-scraping release of the closing ride-out.

“In Waves” sparkles with a light, brisk beat, though as Taylor begins to sing, the subject matter is hardly fizzy. “It’s like a hurricane,” she sings, “But it comes in waves.” But when she and Watson come together for the gentle “Sweetest Grape on the Vine,” everything else seems to melt away.

“It’s a jungle out there, honey/There are diamonds in the mud,” Watson sings on “Ancient Rolling Sea,” but on One Day All of This Won’t Matter Anymore you won’t need to dig for them. (www.slowclubband.com)

Author rating: 7.5/10