Souvlaki was marked by some pretty unfortunate circumstances from the outset. Recorded after the band scrapped an entire batch of recording sessions (40 full and completed songs that they simply discarded) it came out in 1993 right as the British press decided that they had enough of shoegaze. The label troubles didn’t make things easier either. The album’s rollout in the USA was famously botched, with fans being bribed to hang flyers in exchange for a free copy and the label abruptly forcing the band to pay their own way after they were halfway into the tour.
But over the years Souvlaki has begun to find its place as a masterpiece of texture and tone. Neil Halstead and Rachel Goswell’s dual vocals have a clever back and forth interplay and songs like “Machine Gun” and “When the Sun Hits” blend shimmering guitars and heartfelt lyrics in the ways shoegaze is so beloved for. Even the quiet moments like “Dagger” show the band’s knack for restraint. The fact that the two lead singers had been dating during the band’s formation but had recently broken up before recording this album adds to that sense of mystery. It’s no Fleetwood Mac Rumours sort of situation heightened by illicit substance usage, but that drama in band dynamics is still something to behold.
You can feel that lost love in so many moments throughout this album. The layers of sound that wash over you and erase the line between instruments and atmosphere. The delayed and reverb-ed vocals that sound like they’re sung from down the hall in a different room. Shoegaze is probably the best audible representation of human emotion that any genre of music has to offer. And Slowdive’s Souvlaki demonstrates that ethos better than most.
Standout Songs: “When The Sun Hits”, “Alison”, “40 Days”, “Souvlaki Space Station”, “Dagger”
