Album Review: Slowdive – everything is alive - Beats Per Minute
Shifting into an instrumental space, this track feels like a meditative pause, a wordless lullaby that sits somewhere between a eulogy and a moment of quiet reflection. It's a post-rock-inspired piece that builds with a Mogwai-like intensity before fading back into the ether.
Starting as a very krautrock-influenced electronic track, it evolves into a "proper pop song." Halstead's partner, Ingrid, contributed to the melody, making this the only Slowdive song with a co-writing credit outside the band.
The first chords arrived like a tide. They were familiar—reverb-laden, slow-motion—but with a clarity that felt like sunlight through blown glass. The guitar lines that had once drifted like fog now threaded precise pathways through space; the textures held more air, as if the band had learned to leave room for sound to breathe. Each note seemed to ask a question and then, patient as a tide, answered itself.
The title everything is alive serves as a profound thesis statement. Born out of a period of death and isolation, the record does not wallow in despair. Instead, it looks outward at the stubborn, beautiful persistence of life. It is an acknowledgment that the world keeps spinning, love keeps happening, and art keeps blooming, even in the wake of tragedy. Slowdive - everything is alive -2023- - album a...
The wait is over, and Slowdive has finally delivered their highly anticipated fifth studio album, "Everything is Alive". Released on May 27, 2023, via Dead Oceans, this latest effort marks a triumphant return for the British shoegaze outfit, who have been tantalizing fans with hints of new material since their critically-acclaimed 2017 album "Slowdive".
This tension is captured beautifully in songs like “alife,” whose wrenching refrain, “Two lives are hard lives with you,” conveys the struggle of shared existence, set against a surprisingly upbeat musical backdrop. The title itself serves as a mantra, a declaration that despite inevitable endings, everything—music, memory, and love—can remain vibrantly alive. As the Stereoboard review perfectly encapsulates, listening to everything is alive feels “like falling in love, like being picked up and swept away”.
Dedicated to vocalist/guitarist Rachel Goswell’s mother and drummer Simon Scott’s father—both of whom passed away in 2020—the album channels profound personal loss into a glowing, life-affirming wall of sound. Rather than sinking into bleakness, the British quintet crafted an ambient-rich soundtrack that balances melancholy with hope. Sonic Evolution and Synth-Heavy Textures
is the fifth studio album by the English shoegaze band Slowdive , released on September 1, 2023, through Dead Oceans . It serves as the follow-up to their 2017 self-titled comeback album and was dedicated to the memory of Rachel Goswell’s mother and Simon Scott’s father, both of whom passed away in 2020. Album Overview Album Review: Slowdive – everything is alive -
: The lead single and arguably the most upbeat pop song Slowdive has ever released. Driven by a driving indie-pop bassline and a sparkling guitar hook, it captures the euphoric, neon-lit feeling of driving through a city at night. It proves that the band can write hooks just as effortlessly as they construct massive soundscapes.
The album is dedicated to Rachel Goswell’s mother.It is also dedicated to Simon Scott’s father.Both passed away during the writing process in 2020.The lyrics navigate deep personal loss and mourning.Yet, the music implies hope and cosmic rebirth.The title itself reflects survival through dark times. Critical and Commercial Reception
The album's lead single, "Kisses," is a surprisingly uptempo track with a glimmering, euphoric chorus. It evokes the sound of a classic early New Order single reimagined through a dream-pop haze.
Stay tuned for the official tracklist and tour dates. The first chords arrived like a tide
“kisses” (upbeat) or “alife” (classic Slowdive). Best late-night deep cut: “the slab.”
: A breathtaking instrumental that leans heavily into ambient territories. It feels less like a rock song and more like a secular hymn, utilizing swell effects and delicate delays to evoke a state of reverie.
Everything Is Alive began as a solo electronic project by primary songwriter Neil Halstead. Armed with modular synthesizers, Halstead initially envisioned a more minimalist, electronic record. When the rest of the band—Goswell, Scott, guitarist Christian Savill, and bassist Nick Chaplin—joined the process, these synthetic foundations fused with Slowdive's signature guitar textures.
The album opens with the very sound of rebirth. A hypnotic, motorik modular synth pulse immediately establishes the album's electronic leanings. As the track builds, washes of delay-dappled guitars and thrumming bass create a tense, arpeggio-driven groove, with Halstead's and Goswell's vocals floating in like a mist settling over a sea at dusk.
After their celebrated 2017 reunion album (the self-titled Slowdive ), the band could have played it safe. Instead, everything is alive pushes their signature sound into warmer, more abstract, and deeply human territory.