Everything is Alive – Slowdive

Year	Album	Artist	Stars	Score	Genre
2023	Everything is Alive	Slowdive	★★★	67	Rock	Alternative Rock	Shoegaze

Shoegaze stalwarts Slowdive return for the first time in six years with Everything is Alive, an album with a slightly different flavor than anything they’ve done in the past. The band seems to have pulled on the reins, and are going at a methodical pace with a refined sound. Nothing’s too frantic, nothing’s too loud, and it all feels like a foggy, dream-like state with a pensive mood. 

A lot of the songs still have energy. More rocky tracks like “kisses,” “alife” and “slab” are reminiscent of old New Order tunes, with driving bass lines and simple, dark guitar riffs that solo in and out to introduce new song sections while that shoegaze buzz still hums throughout the tracks. 

Overall though, the scope of what they’re trying to do has been narrowed. The songs aren’t as dramatic as earlier albums and the mix is hazy instead of crisp, which makes it harder to latch onto melodies. Guitars wail and moan instead of soaring to a roaring climaxes, and vocals whisper, hidden behind soft electronic elements. 

Even the already soft moments, while still beautiful, have less color and feel lonelier than before. “skin in the game” is close to “Sugar for the Pill” and “No Longer Making Time” from Slowdive’s 2017 album in style but never hits a climax. The second track, “prayer remembered,” is interesting, but without any vocals creates more of a broad  landscape than a specific feeling. 

It’s an intentional choice, clearly, and one that’s rewarding after repeated listens. But while I love shoegaze because of the muddy sounds and dreamlike, atmospheric vibes, what made Slowdive’s self titled release in 2017 a standout in the genre is that the band was able to add brightness and life into the mix.  Everything is Alive is good, but bringing the top-end energy level and volume down takes away some of what elevated Slowdive’s biggest moments and songs of the past.