Bleep

Twenty-two years on and a band with a claim to being the defining British shoegaze act return with a new self-titled LP. Despite such a long time away, Slowdive have lost nothing of their ability to paint in broad strokes of noise, reverb and delay. Tracks like ‘Star Roving’, ‘No Longer Making Time’ and ‘Don’t Know Why’ slot in comfortably with the band’s previous work, with some sugar-sweet songwriting buried amid great swathes of guitar. Elsewhere ‘Sugar For the Pill’ makes nice use of updated recording techniques to ground some typically ethereal vocals on solid foundations. Closer ‘Falling Ashes’ applies the group’s knack for soundscaping to a slow-burning piano piece that recalls the film score work Michael Nyman and Philip Glass.