Single release: Out now
Label: Winspear
More info: Slow Pulp’s website
Early praise for Slow Pulp:
“dreamy, subtly forceful rock songs with great clarity and chemistry.” – NPR
“On the shimmery Falling Apart, Emily Massey’s woozy vocals mesh so sweetly with the downbeat sonic mood that you may not even notice it’s a diss track.” – The Guardian – Tracks Of The Week
“…tender and slyly powerful indie rock perfect when you’re caught in your feelings.” – The FADER
“measured melodic clarity and seamless vocal flow, tranquil guitar lines create textures in serene layers.” – The Line Of Best Fit
“Slow Pulp’s Big Day is about formative experiences that transcend the calendar. It’s waking up not knowing what new experience will be enjoyed or what mistake will be made. It’s feeling something for the first time.” – Stereogum (Band To Watch)
“Jabs of crunchy guitar, sweeping psychedelia, or melodies that you don’t see coming.” – Pigeons & Planes
“the grungy, slow burning “Idaho”…is tempered by vocalist and guitarist Emily Massey’s cooly commanding vocals.” – Brooklyn Vegan
WATCH THE VIDEO TO “AT IT AGAIN” HERE
Madison, WI-bred and Chicago-based band Slow Pulp – Emily Massey (vocals/guitar), Alexander Leeds (bass), Theodore Mathews (drums), and Henry Stoehr (guitar) – recently announced Moveys, their self-produced debut album, and have so far shared two standout singles in “Idaho” and last month’s “Falling Apart“, which made The Guardian’s Tracks Of The Week alongside further plaudits for its stop motion, patchwork music video.
Today the band are back with a third release and another highlight from their upcoming record, with the evocative “At It Again“. The balmy video was directed by the team at coool (Into It. Over It., Disq, Ratboys) who said of the production that “we’re still finding sand in my shoes after this shoot. We drove 6 hours from home to the middle of nowhere, all for a sand dune. This was one of the more rewarding projects to work on because it had been on the bulletin board for so long, about 8 months since the band initially approached us. We were lucky to have friends fill our cast and crew, so it felt like a little camping trip. After wrapping we all celebrated by swimming in Lake Michigan in the last remaining minutes of sunlight after the performance shots.”
The song was initially brought to the band at rehearsal by Henry, who already had the lyrics “at it again” but then tasked Emily with writing the rest. She says the following about that process:
“I had been staying at my parents quarantined away from my regular life and my regular people and I was doing a terrible job taking care of myself. I was finding it very difficult to muster up any type of energy or motivation to work on the record. I had been in positions in the past where my mental health had gotten the best of me and I couldn’t seem to finish anything that I started. I felt like I had reverted back to a place that I had worked so hard to get out of, and I felt like somehow everyone knew. Back on my bullshit in a completely novel situation.”
A testament to hard-fought personal growth, Moveys is a remarkable debut made in remarkable times, as Slow Pulp powered through health challenges, personal upheaval, and a pandemic. The songs on Moveys took shape while on tour with Alex G in 2019, after the band scrapped an album’s-worth of material following Massey’s diagnosis with Lyme disease and chronic Mono.
The obstacles only continued from there, as Massey’s parents were soon after in a severe car crash…one week before COVID-19 shut the country down. Full of blistering energy and emotional catharsis, this compelling 10-track collection highlights the band’s resourcefulness and resilience to come together during unthinkable time.
Pre-order Moveys, out October 9th on Winspear, HERE
Slow Pulp – Moveys
Out October 9th via Winspear
Tracklisting:
1. New Horse
2. Trade It
3. Idaho
4. Track
5. At It Again
6. Channel 2
7. Whispers (In The Outfield)
8. Falling Apart
9. Montana
10. Movey
UK/EU Tour Dates:
2/15/21 – Glasgow, UK @ The Hug and Pint
2/16/21 – Manchester, UK @ YES
2/18/21 – London, UK @ The Shacklewell Arms
2/19/21 – Brighton, UK @ The Hope & Ruin
2/20/21 – Paris, FR @ Supersonic
2/22/21 – Brussels, BE @ Volta
2/23/21 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
2/24/21 – Berlin, DE @ Monarch
2/25/21 – Hamburg, DE @ Aalhaus
2/26/21 – Copenhagen, DK @ Huset
Tickets available HERE
More information about Slow Pulp:
Slow Pulp’s tough adaptability is something that has formed over time thanks to the unbreakable bond of lifelong friendship. The band’s roots can be traced back to elementary school, with Leeds, Mathews and Stoehr performing in bands together since the sixth grade while growing up in Madison. Massey was later invited to join their new project, Slow Pulp, in 2017. “I can’t describe a level of closeness with other people like we have. Having lived together, toured together, worked together, and written together, we learned so much about each other so quickly,” says Massey.
Slow Pulp first started working on new songs in the Spring of 2019, immediately after the release of their EP, Big Day, before scrapping the materia
l following’s Massey’s Mono and Lyme diagnosis. “When we started writing this record, I had been experiencing so much fatigue and getting sick a lot and I didn’t know what it was,” she explains. “The diagnosis validated a lot of what I was feeling. I got tools for how to take care of myself better.” For Massey, taking care of herself meant more than just addressing her physical needs. “The way that I internalize trauma is I will hold it in and not process it for a very long time, but writing songs is the one place where I can’t hide from myself. It just comes out whether or not I want it to or if I’m ready for it to. Figuring out how to write together, as a band, was like me learning how to take care of myself and learning how to communicate better.”
When the band toured with Alex G in the fall of 2019, new songs started to take shape. However, in March, as Slow Pulp was finishing the songs and starting to realize a full-length effort, Massey’s parents got in a severe car accident forcing her to pause recording and return home to Madison and take care of them. A week later, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. “I wasn’t able to come back to Chicago for a while. How were we going to finish this apart from each other?” thought Massey.
With Stoehr leading engineering, mixing, and production duties, the band managed to finish the record in an isolated, post-COVID world. “Thankfully most instrumentals were already written. Alex and Henry and I were all able to do that separately from a studio space that we rent in Chicago. It required a lot of FaceTime which was no substitute for us being in the room together,” says Mathews. As Massey’s father Michael recovered from his injuries, the two worked on completing her vocal takes from his home studio. On top of engineering all but two vocal tracks, Michael Massey also contributed the instrumental piano track “Whispers (In the Outfield).”
After a handful of singles and EPs, Moveys marks a turning point for Slow Pulp, not just as musicians, but as friends and bandmates. The extremely untraditional circumstances of the album forced the quartet to break old habits, and learn to be both better songwriters and friends. The result is a marked departure from the ramshackle coziness of their earlier output, with a more thoughtful sound that will draw you in on first listen.
The word “moveys” is multi-faceted for Slow Pulp. It’s a made-up word, and a title of the album’s bonus track. It is an invitation to dance. It is a wink at the cross-country nature of the album’s songwriting process, while the bandmates were literally on the move touring, sheltering in place, and going through major life changes. But, mostly, it’s an inside joke. Listening to these warm, dynamic and welcoming songs, it’s easy to feel like you’re a part of it too.
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