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Jun 20, 2023 By Mark Redfern Photography by Parri Thomas

Legendary ’90s shoegazers Slowdive have announced a new album, everything is alive, and shared its first single, “kisses,” via a music video. They have also announced a North American tour, as well as shows in the UK. Everything is alive is the band’s first new album in six years and is due out September 1 via Dead Oceans. Noel Paul directed the “kisses” video. Watch it below, followed by the album’s tracklist and cover artwork, as well as the tour dates.

Slowdive’s line-up remains Neil Halstead (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Christian Savill (guitar), Nick Chaplin (bass), Rachel Goswell (vocals), and Simon Scott (drums, electronics).

Halstead had this to say about “kisses” and the album as a whole in a press release: “It wouldn’t feel right to make a really dark record right now. The album is quite eclectic emotionally, but it does feel hopeful.”

Paul had this to say about directing the video: “If this video evokes emotion, it’s largely due to our excellent cast. In particular Charlie and Claudia, two courageous and beautiful souls who threw themselves into their roles and set a tone of fearless vulnerability.”

Everything is alive is the band’s fifth album and the follow-up to 2017’s self-titled album, which was their first full-length album in 22 years and first since the band reformed. It was #4 on our Top 100 Albums of 2017 list.

The new album is dedicated to Goswell’s mother and Scott’s father, as they both died in 2020. “There were some profound shifts for some of us personally,” Goswell says.

The record began with Halstead acting as writer and producer, working from home, and he initially saw the album as a “more minimal electronic record,” but once the rest of the band got involved it became more aligned with their signature shoegaze/dream-pop sound.

“As a band, when we’re all happy with it, that tends to be the stronger material. We’ve always come from slightly different directions, and the best bits are where we all meet in the middle,” Halstead says.

Goswell adds: “Slowdive is very much the sum of its parts. Something unquantifiable happens when the five of us come together in a room.”

The album was recorded over the course of several years, starting in 2020 at Courtyard Studio, where the band have recorded before, but also in various other places. Shawn Everett (The War On Drugs, Alvvays, SZA) mixed the album in 2022.

Read our review of Slowdive.

Read our Album of the Week post on Slowdive.

Read our interview with Slowdive’s Rachel Goswell about the making of the album.

Slowdive’s last album of their original run was 1995’s Pygmalion. Slowdive broke up that year, although some of the members went on to form Mojave 3. The band reformed in 2014 and began playing shows again.

We interviewed Slowdive’s Neil Halstead and Rachel Goswell in 2014 about the reunion and posted various articles on the band. Read our print magazine article on Slowdive’s reunion. Read our separate interviews with Neil Halstead and Rachel Goswell about the reunion. Finally read our interview with Halstead and Goswell about the bands that inspired Slowdive.

everything is alive Tracklist:

1. shanty
2. prayer remembered
3. alife
4. andalucia plays
5. kisses
6. skin in the game
7. chained to a cloud
8. the slab

Slowdive Tour Dates: Sat. June 24 - Exeter, UK @ Phoenix [SOLD OUT]
Sun. June 25 - Somerset, UK @ Glastonbury Festival
Mon. July 17 - Perth, AU @ Astor Theatre [SOLD OUT]
Wed. July 19 - Brisbane, AU @ Princess Theatre
Fri. July 21 - Sydney, AU @ Enmore Theatre
Sat. July 22 - Melbourne, AU @ Forum
Sun. July 23 - Adelaide, AU @ Hindley St. Music Hall
Wed. July 26 - Auckland, NZ @ Powerstation [SOLD OUT]
Sat. July 29 - Niigata Prefecture, JP @ Fuji Rock Festival
Sat. Aug. 5 - Mysłowice, PL @ Off Festival
Fri. Aug. 11 - Sicily, IT @ Ypsigrock Festival
Fri. Aug. 18 - Brecon Beacon, GB @ Green Man Festival
Sat. Sep. 23 - Toronto, ON @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Mon. Sep. 25 - Boston, MA @ Citizens House of Blues Boston
Wed. Sep. 27 - New York, NY @ Webster Hall
Thu. Sep. 28 - New York, NY @ Webster Hall
Fri. Sep. 29 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
Sat. Sep. 30 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
Mon. Oct. 2 - Cleveland, OH @ The Roxy @ Mahall’s
Tue. Oct. 3 - Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre
Wed. Oct. 4 - St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre
Fri. Oct. 6 - Denver, CO @ Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom
Sat. Oct. 7 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The Union
Mon. Oct. 9 - Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
Tue. Oct. 10 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo
Thu. Oct. 12 - San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
Sat. Oct. 14 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether
Mon. Oct. 30 - Glasgow, UK @ QMU
Tue. Oct. 31 - Manchester, UK @ Ritz
Wed. Nov. 1 - Bristol, UK @ SWX
Fri. Nov. 3 - London, UK @ Troxy
Sun. Nov. 5 - Belfast, UK @ Mandela Hall
Mon. Nov. 6 - Dublin, IE @ National Stadium

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