Artist: Slowly Slowly
Album: Daisy Chain
Release Date: November 4th 2022
Label: UNFD
Reviewer: Andrew Treadwell

Slowly Slowly first came on our radar at the Full Tilt festival early this year, and they were really impressive.
They have an energy that is immeasurable and you got the overwhelming sense they really love what they do,
and really work hard at it. They have been consistently releasing new music over the last few years and their latest
release Daisy Chain, is one that I feel is putting them on the cusp of something huge.

The title track is stage ready and has the audience participation segment in built. If this isn’t a staple in their live
set they are completely mad. The mixture of the lush harmonies and almost staggered lead vocals work together.

“Blueprint” has been out for quite some time but is still as fresh as the first listen. The drums drive this one with some
great use of almost jungle like tom rhythms through start, love the pure pop punk simplicity of this track.

“Turn it Around” is a bit of a left turn for me, but a welcome one on the journey, a little bit Alt, a little bit pop, and the
heaviness of the chorus just mixes the dynamics of the song a little more.

“Forget You” is one that I’m really loving after my first rounds of listens. Its just a great little pop song with no bullshit
Its straight in, straight out job done. Sometimes that’s all you need in a song.

“Nothing On” could be straight out of the 80s. Some amazing synth vibes. For a band who’s members were likely not born in this era they most certainly do it justice, in fact they make it their own, this only continues with “Achilles’ Heel”, its so amazingly 8os,
just missing a completely cheesy film clip with lots of neon and hairspray. I don’t mean that in any negative way, but as someone
that grew up through that “MTV Era” I really appreciate a well written pop song.

“Hold My Breath” really tells the story of someone who seems to be in the middle of some form of self conflict, they want to fix it but also seem to pig headed to want to take the extra steps, its an emotional song, which also leads into a another emotional track in “Medicine” which is stripped back in instrumentation with just guitar and vocals, but don’t expect a love song, in fact you wont get anything bar the opposite.

“God” challenges all the rules, no matter your faith or belief. It’s a nice reminder to not push your bullshit down others throats because at the end of the day we should all try living our best lives. This is one of my favourite tracks on the album. SO much emotion, you can hear it all in Ben’s vocals. He really delivers a simple message we should all be living by. I love the fact the band doesn’t really kick in to overdrive until half way through this
5 minute epic song.

Next up is “Longshot” and its got that great lo-fi AM Radio intro, which you now is going to take you somewhere cool. And when you get to the huge chorus you will know why. The simple lyric “It’s a long shot, but it’s all I’ve got” is just great. Sometimes you have to take that chance to get where you want to go.

“Moving Trains” features Dashboard Confessional, and its another simple pop punk number. Dear reader, don’t misconstrue my meaning of simple. It is a good thing. Sometimes you don’t want the cake with the icing, its just too sweet, and you want to get straight to the centre and enjoy. This song is a perfect example of that, and Slowly Slowly show many moments of this simplistic brilliance through this album.

The album ends with “Papier-Mâché” is dark, melancholy, but the underlying metaphor of trying to build many layers of something that on the outside seems weak and not able to withstand anything, but through that building bring the strength to survive, or not survive, when those weak layers are inside you and are building up to take you down.

Daisy Chain is an epic journey you will never be able to keep on the straight and narrow. Allow the twists, turns and detours to flow naturally and end up at an amazing destination by listening to this album.

Daisy Chain Track Listing

1. Daisy Chain
2. Blueprint
3. Turn It Around
4. Forget You
5. Nothing On
6. Achilles’ Heel
7. Hold My Breath
8. Medicine
9. God
10. Longshot
11. Moving Trains
12. Papier-Mâché

Slowly Slowly are:

Ben Stewart – Vocals and Guitar
Albert Doan – Guitar
Patrick Murphy – Drums
Alex Quayle – Bass

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