Lowtide-Southern Mind
Achieving critical acclaim for their debut album and having just returned from a European tour, Lowtide deliver their stunning sophomore record Southern Mind.
From the intro of the title track, the sonic landscape of Southern Mind rumbles into focus, setting the scene for the entire album. Conjuring up images of a desolate industrial wasteland, the track incrementally builds as each member of the trio come to their respective fores. Lucy Buckeridge’s soft vocal harmonies meet with swirling feedback of guitarist Gabriel Lewis and steady beats of Anton Jakovljevic.
The lead single off the LP Alibi is a swirling shoegaze piece soaked rich layers of reverb. It is the journey and not the destination that is impressive with the single as it effortlessly provides a voyeuristic fly-by over a disintegrating relationship that will “swallow us whole”.
The vocal dualities in Elizabeth Tower oscillate gently as driving basslines tie the parallels of courage and waste in a lonely southern land.
The dichotomy of A.C in celebrating and separating yourself speaks for the album as much as it does of the individual track. Showcasing the brighter patches of the moody tapestry that Southern Mind is richly peppered with.
Letting the imagination run wild Olinda is purely an instrumental piece. Without any vocal accompaniment, the track is set free and the soundscape produced is in one of quiet introspection aptly positioned mid-way through the record.
The synchronicity of On The Fence is a truly harmonious track. Ethereal vocals and tightknit basslines, culminating in a euphoria that unfurls as the track zigs and zags between restrained drumming and washed out guitars.
The echoing reverb of The Fear is like a sonic metaphor based on tumultuous relationships and attempting to avoid history repeating itself and the tantalising prospect of a new start.
Bursting out of the gates Window surges forth with Lowtide’s signature basslines and Buckeridge’s angelic vocals all the while holding steady to the shadowy under currents.
From abyssal beginnings through to moments of stratospheric ambience Fault Lines rounds off the record gliding back down to earth as effortlessly as the album started.
Sandwiched somewhere between gothic new wave and indie shoegaze, from a relatively narrow musical pallet Lowtide extract a great deal of intricacies in the broody web they weave. The murky atmosphere and reverb saturated tracks throughout Southern Mind create a patchwork work of light and dark moments that ebb and flow to great effect throughout the entire record.
