Slowdive - "alife"

Photo by Ingrid Pop

Shoegaze can be beautiful at times, and the latest from Slowdive might be the most beautiful shoegaze song we've ever heard. "alife" is an ethereal masterpiece. It's a lush sonic delight that envelopes the listener in this warm glow as it passes over you. Slowdive are one of the most gushed about bands in the shoegaze scene, and for good reason. Most bands that have been around since the late 1980's (even if they did take 1996 to 2013 off) aren't making music anywhere near this vital. Over thirty years in, and the UK legends are making the best music of their career.

Neil Halstead says of the new song:

“‘alife’ is one of the first tunes we finished for the record. Shawn Everett did a really nice job with the mix. We tried so many times to figure out a good mix by ourselves and couldn’t do it . . . it sort of had us beaten until Shawn stepped in. We decided if he could handle that one he could probably do the whole record. Our friend Jake Nelson did a really nice animation for this song; it takes some of the imagery from the artwork and digs a little deeper into that."

You can watch the video for "alife" below. everything is alive will be out September 1 on Dead Oceans, and is available for pre-order here. For more on Slowdive, check out the artist's website. Dates for their upcoming mostly sold out tour are below the video.

Sat. Sep. 23 - Toronto, ON @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre [SOLD OUT]

Mon. Sep. 25 - Boston, MA @ Citizens House of Blues Boston [SOLD OUT]

Wed. Sep. 27 - New York, NY @ Webster Hall [SOLD OUT]

Thu. Sep. 28 - New York, NY @ Webster Hall [SOLD OUT]

Fri. Sep. 29 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer [SOLD OUT]

Sat. Sep. 30 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club [SOLD OUT]

Mon. Oct. 2 - Cleveland, OH @ The Roxy @ Mahall’s [SOLD OUT]

Tue. Oct. 3 - Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre [SOLD OUT]

Wed. Oct. 4 - St. Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre

Fri. Oct. 6 - Denver, CO @ Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom [SOLD OUT]

Sat. Oct. 7 - Salt Lake City, UT @ The Union

Mon. Oct. 9 - Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom [SOLD OUT]

Tue. Oct. 10 - Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo [SOLD OUT]

Thu. Oct. 12 - San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield [SOLD OUT]

Sat. Oct. 14 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether [SOLD OUT]

Sun. Oct. 15 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether [SOLD OUT]

Mon. Oct. 16 - San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield

Mon. Oct. 30 - Glasgow, UK @ QMU [SOLD OUT]

Tue. Oct. 31 - Manchester, UK @ Ritz [SOLD OUT]

Wed. Nov. 1 - Bristol, UK @ SWX [SOLD OUT]

Fri. Nov. 3 - London, UK @ Troxy [SOLD OUT]

Sun. Nov. 5 - Belfast, UK @ Mandela Hall

Mon. Nov. 6 - Dublin, IR @ National Stadium

Sat. Nov. 25 - Sun. Nov. 26 - Buenos Aires, AR @ Primavera Sound

Mon. Dec. 4 - Santiago, CL @ Teatro Coliseo

Thu. Dec. 7 - Asunción, PY @ Primavera Sound

Sat. Dec. 9 - Sun. Dec. 10 - Bogotá, CO @ Primavera Sound

Tue. Jan. 16, 2024 - Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso

Wed. Jan. 17, 2024 - Paris, FR @ La Cigale

Thu. Jan. 18, 2024 - Cologne, DE @ Live Music Hall

Sat. Jan. 20, 2024 - Hamburg, DE @ Grosse Freiheit 36

Sun. Jan. 21, 2024 - Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA

Mon. Jan. 22, 2024 - Oslo, NO @ Sentrum Scene

Tue. Jan. 23, 2024 - Stockholm, SE @ Munchenbryggeriet

Thu. Jan. 25, 2024 - Berlin, DE @ Columbiahalle

Sat. Jan. 27, 2024 - Warsaw, PL @ Progresja

Sun. Jan. 28, 2024 - Prague, CZ @ Divaldo Archa

Mon. Jan. 29, 2024 - Munich, DE @ Muffathalle

Fri. Feb. 16, 2024 - Brighton, UK @ Brighton Dome

Sat. Feb. 17, 2024 - London, UK @ Eventim Apollo

Sun. Feb. 18, 2024 - Birmingham, UK @ O2 Institute Birmingham

Mon. Feb. 19, 2024  - Norwich, UK @ LCR UEA

Wed. Feb. 21, 2024 - Liverpool, UK @ O2 Academy Liverpool

Thu. Feb. 22, 2024 - Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK @ NX

Fri. Feb. 23, 2024 - Glasgow, UK @ Barrowland Ballroom

Sat. Feb. 24, 2024 - Edinburgh, UK @ Liquid Rooms

Mon. Feb. 26, 2024 - Cardiff, UK @ Cardiff University Great Hall

Tue. Feb. 27, 2024 - Manchester, UK @ Manchester Academy