The Slow Show are not your average Manchester band; they sound as though they could flourish in any era and could exist in any place.
Recently formed by five acoustic folk pop enthusiasts from the heart of the industrial city, The Slow Show, whose music aptly fits the group’s name, have been making significant waves on the British indie scene. Their debut EP ‘Midnight Waltz‘ has drawn considerable acclaim from contemporary critics and has even earned the group a support slot for the hugely popular Elbow, a rather impressive feat this early in the band’s career.
Priding themselves on their warm and dynamic American alt-rock influenced sound, The Slow Show have built themselves a reputation for being unique amongst their musical peers, particularly on the straight-ahead pop orientated indie scene of the present. Their crafty and engaging live shows were given widespread exposure when the band’s support performance for Elbow at the Manchester Cathedral was broadcast as part of BBC Radio 2’s In Session show.
Vocalist Robert Goodwin has a voice that is instantly unique, only the baritone prose of Matt Berninger from The National compares. Surrounding himself with a band that is equally adept at their showcasing their trade, with an instrument variety that even includes a full brass section, The Slow Show’s drifting palette of classic sounds has ancient roots in distant eras. The group’s most obvious influences are drawn from some of the most profound and enduring songwriters of our time, from Tom Waits to Bob Dylan to Neil Young.
‘Midnight Waltz’ is a cosy and dynamically warm collection of songs that only hints at the songwriting potential and professional finesse that this group is clearly capable of. The sterling ‘God Only Knows’ evokes images of golden era Broadway, fading in and out of an ethereal guitar bristling haze under the swift and class touch of Goodwin’s omniscient voice, heavenly reassuring and chillingly close at the same time.
The Slow Show – God Only Knows by theslowshow
But it’s the folk-piano showpiece ‘Falling Slow’ that takes centre stage here. It has a soaring, building instrumental foundation that lifts the lush vocals skyward into a triumphant, existential orbit. Whilst it harks back to the classic crooning icons of old, it never falls into musical cliché and tends to leave us wanting more of its pristine crescendo pop arrangement.
The Slow Show are a welcome rarity in a modern world that doesn’t tend to emphasize brass or subtlety as musical strengths. With an anticipated debut LP on the horizon in the near future and a musical potential that is bordering on limitless, brace yourselves for whatever The Slow Show decide to throw at us next. Avoid them at your own peril.
(Raphael Hall)