Shoegaze band SLOWNESS release the single “Rose”

Slowness runs mostly mid-tempo, sometimes fast and occasionally slow. As for this new record, it is purposefully slow, sounding like a hybrid between classic Slowdive, early-Cure and mid-period Neil Young. Often labelled shoegaze or dreampop with elements of slowcore, psych rock and even Krautrock, this music is perhaps best referred to as drone-pop. Imagine Spacemen 3 teaming up with Murmur-era R.E.M. with female harmonies.

“This is a very personal record. It’s taken a while to make for several reasons. When we started recording during the summer of 2014, we knew wanted a slower, heavier record to reflect the current American grain,” says Geoffrey Scott.

“We tend to think everything’s gone bad since the last election and sometimes forget that that election was 30 years in the making. So we set out to capture that, but then the whole concept probably took a turn when Julie and I decided to end our 11-year relationship as a couple. So the political became blurred with the personal, and the lyrics probably reflect that. In fact, all three members of Slowness were going through a major breakup during the making of this record.”

Formed in 2008 in San Francisco, Julie Lynn and Geoffrey Scott started recording demos, crossing and tripping over wires from the pod to the four track recorder. In 2009, they enlisted Erik Karl on drums to help turn those demos into the songs that would become their 2011 debut EP ‘Hopeless but Otherwise’.

Eventually Lynn and Scott were joined by drummer Christy Davis, who has been playing for over 30 years with a wide variety of NYC artists, including Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz, downtown avant garde artist Rebecca Moore, and political activist Reverend Billy.

“Christy’s drumming helped change our sound significantly. She helped open everything up. With her we were able to record these songs as live, single takes more than we ever have before. This made Monte happy when it came to both recording and mixing, not because it made his life easier, but because he thought it served the music better,” says Julie Lynn.

As of April 3, ‘Rose’ is available across online stores like iTunes and streaming platforms like Spotify. The full ‘Berths’ album will be released on June 7. Their record release show will take place on June 12 at the Make-Out Room in San Francisco with support from Steilacoom and Forest Bees.  

CREDITS
Written by Julie Lynn and Geoffrey Scott
Lyrics by Geoffrey Scott
Geoffrey Scott – vocals, guitar and keys
Julie Lynn – vocals, bass and keys
Christy Davis – drums and additional vocals
Produced by Monte Vallier
Mastered by Carl Saff
Side A engineered by Dave Voigt at Beyond Notes Studio in Brooklyn
Side B engineered by Monte Vallier at Ruminator Audio in San Francisco

TRACK LIST
1. The Fall
2. Rose
3. Berlin
4. Breathe
5. Sand & Stone
6. Asunder

‘Rose’ videohttps://youtu.be/iUI494jCNnY
‘Rose’ singlehttps://soundcloud.com/slownessmusic/2-rose/s-ESheV
‘Day For Night’ (2013) https://youtu.be/PzjS4AOXMN4
‘Anon, Part II’ (2014) https://youtu.be/_pV3ZxJFJec
Record release show https://www.facebook.com/events/795439400823974/

Band information
Website