Slowdive Fills A Shuffleboard Parlor With Shimmering Sound

Before a month-and-change ago, Slowdive hadn't released an album in 22 years. So you'd be forgiven for watching the band perform "Sugar For The Pill" and struggling to pin down what era you're in — especially since NPR Music plopped the group in a playfully retro Brooklyn shuffleboard parlor for the occasion.

In the early '90s, Slowdive dressed up shoegaze's hazy drift with jolts of energy and a chiming dream-pop shimmer. The band lasted only three albums before splitting up in 1995, at which point members Neil Halstead and Rachel Goswell formed the more countrified Mojave 3. Now, after reuniting in 2014, it's back with a self-titled album that picks up where it left off — but, while it conjures many signifiers of '90s college radio, the band's return album freshens the project up, too, with bright, impeccable songcraft. A patient mid-tempo gem that's as hooky as it is hypnotic, "Sugar For The Pill" is a particular highlight, so it's a joy to watch the reconstituted band trot it out for this Field Recording, filmed at Royal Palms Shuffleboard in Brooklyn.

The band will be on tour through the summer and fall.

Slowdive Tour

Fri. June 16 – Sun. June 18 – Mannheim, DE @ Maifeld Derby
Sat. July 1 – Roskilde, Denmark @ Roskilde Festival
Thurs. July 6 – Trencin, Slovakia @ Pohoda Festival
Fri. July 7 – Madrid, ES @ Mad Cool Festival
Sun. July 9 – Six Four Les Plages, France@ Pointu Festival
Fri. July 21 – Los Angeles, CA @ FYF Fest
Fri. July 28 – South Korea @ Valley Rock Festival
Sun. July 30 – Tahar Shi, Japan @ Fuji Rock Festival
Sat. Aug 19 – Trondheim, Norway @ Pstereo Festival
Fri. 25 August – Switzerland @ Nox Orae Festival
Sat. Aug 27 – Paris, France @ Rock En Seine Festival
Thu. Aug. 31 – Salisbury, UK @ End of the Road Festival
Sat. Sept 2 – Milano, Italy @ Un Altro Festival
Thu. Sept 7 – Tel Aviv, Israel @ Barby Club
Fri. Sep 15 – Sat. 16 Sept – Angers, France @ Levitation Fest
Sun. Sep 17 – Birmingham, UK @ Beyond the Tracks Festival
Fri. Sept 29 – Dortmund, Germany @Way Back When Festival
Sat. Sept 30 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ DR Koncerthuset
Mon. Oct 2 – Warsaw, Poland - @ Palladium
Tues. Oct 3 – Berlin, Germany @ Huxley's
Weds. Oct 4 – Hamburg, Germany @Uebel & Gefaehrlich
Fri. Oct 6 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
Sat. Oct 7 – Brussels, Belgium @ Botanique
Mon. Oct 9 – Glasgow, UK @ ABC
Tues. Oct 10 – Manchester, UK @Albert Hall
Weds. Oct 11 – Leeds, UK @ Town Hall
Fri. Oct 13 – London, UK @ Roundhouse
Mon. Oct. 23 – Vancouver, BC @ The Commodore
Wed. Oct. 25 – Seattle, WA @ The Neptune
Thu. Oct. 26 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
Sat. Oct. 28 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
Wed. Nov. 1 – Denver, CO @ The Ogden
Sat. Nov. 4 – Madison, WI @ Barrymore Theatre
Sun. Nov. 5 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre
Tue. Nov. 7 – Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall
Wed. Nov. 8 – Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre
Thu. Nov. 9 – Buffalo, NY @ Town Hall
Fri. Nov. 10 – Toronto, ON @ CANADA @ Massey Hall
Sat. Nov. 11 – New Haven, CT @ College St Music Hall
Sun. Nov. 12 – New York City, NY @ Terminal 5
Tue. Nov. 14 – Boston,MA @ Paradise
Wed. Nov. 15 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
Thu. Nov. 16 – Baltimore, MD @ Ram's Head
Fri. Nov. 17 – Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel

Credits

Producers: Annabel Edwards, Ben Naddaff-Hafrey; Director: Mito Habe-Evans; Editor: Nickolai Hammar; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Annabel Edwards, Mito Habe-Evans, Becky Lettenberger, Christopher Parks; Series Producer: Mito Habe-Evans; Executive Producers: Anya Grundmann, Keith Jenkins; Special Thanks: Mark and Rachel Dibner of the Argus Fund.

Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.