EXTENDED PLAYLIST 099: SLOWLY SLOWLY | FORGIVING SPREE | ALBUM REVIEW
Words by Molly Inglis.
An album challenging the concept of forgiveness whilst serving us a classic mix of 80’s rock and pop inspired love songs, you can’t help but sing along to.
With sold-out tours across the country and four albums already under their belts, Slowly Slowly is back and better than ever, with their fifth studio album, Forgiving Spree.
Forgiving Spree sees the four-piece from Melbourne (Ben Stewart, Alex Quayle, Patrick Murphy and Albert Doan), draw on touring their last album, Daisy Chain, to create a record packed with lyrical dexterity, which will be explosive live.
The track, Forgiving Spree, straight out of the gate, sets the overarching theme within the album. It takes the idea of how forgiveness can be a tool for personal growth and not just necessarily for the person one may be showing forgiveness too.
If one thing can be said about this album, it is that there is no shortage of punchy, earworm choruses. This is cemented in the first chorus of Forgiving Spree, omitting how “I broke a mirror last year, I stepped under a ladder, saw a black cat in my dreams,” alongside a classic-rock backing you can just imagine fans screaming along to live.
A track inspired by a scene in the film, Good Will Hunting, Gimme The Wrench is a guitar-forward track, encapsulating the determination of the band as they approach the next stage in their career.
How Are You Mine? turns up the pace of the album, described as a celebration song of love towards Ben Stewart's wife.
Hurricane comes as a moment of reflection, a track which sees Stewart recall his wedding day, discovering he and his wife were to have their first child and unfortunately suffering a miscarriage four months into the term. Its lyrics speak to raw emotions; the ups and downs we humans face in life. The lyrics, “Everything keeps changing, but I’m still the same,” really stuck with me the first time I listened to the track.
Speaking to how life throws us challenges when we least expect it, “but we’ve gotta crawl through the pain … [and] throw ourselves right back into the hurricane.”
All Time is a track full of storytelling, following the concept of eternal love through the perspective of two lovers, finding each other through different time periods. Whether it be hunting vampires in Transylvania, hiding from a saber tooth tiger, or simply meeting once again at a share house party. I just love the writing of this track from its first-person perspective, making me grasp onto each section to hear what witty historical event, where these lovers will meet once again.
Love Letters can only be described as an absolute banger, that you physically can't help but move your body to. I have listened to this track an insane amount of times as its chorus is so addictively catchy, and that striking guitar line is just the cherry on top.
The first time I heard this next track, my ears pricked up from the first sound of the funky guitar line, and groovy bass of That's That. Described as an 80’s style celebratory break up song, featuring an enchanting sax solo, I was so surprised to hear within a Slowly track.
Meltdown Masquerade is a track poking fun at the tantrums Stewart was guilty of as a younger man, where each line is a dance move, “Cry to your left, tantrum to your right.”
The final track of the album, Born Free, sits singular from the rest of the album, shaking the skin of a pop song adhering to more of a sombre rock ballad. The track came about in the wake of several deaths in Stewart's family, a track he holds dear to his heart and one he believes they will play at his funeral.
This album encapsulates all that there is to love about Slowly Slowly. A sense of familiarity within Stewart’s song writing, but a new era for the band in their explorations of encapsulating pop tracks within the rock world.
Slowly Slowly is set to take their brand new record on tour at Party in the Paddock and Yours and Owls, before heading over to the UK in March for their debut headline tour.
They will then head back down under for a run of headlining shows in April.