5

Maybe it was the touch of Brian Eno’s hand on 1993’s Souvlaki that got Slowdive to replace guitars with synthesizers and drums with machines on their following 5 EP. Or it could have been that Neil Halstead was at that time living in a house with electronic music artist Mark Van Hoen from the band Seefeel. Either way, these songs still stand as a perfect hybrid of dream-pop/shoegaze and ambient techno/IDM. “In Mind” opens with underwater beats bubbling under Rachel Goswell’s beautifully demure inflections before electro flourishes trill under more mechanized drum patterns. “Good Day Sunshine” follows mirroring the minimalism of Eno, this time looping the band’s signature electric guitar delay over lush backdrops of electronic ambience where Van Hoen’s studio contributions really poke through. Some Gary Numan-esque synthesizers usher in “Missing You,” an instrumental layering of textures that culminate to sound more like Seefeel than Slowdive. “Country Rain” closes with a lazy slide guitar accompanying Goswell to make for the band’s most Mazzy Star-sounding number.