Slow Dancing Society - The Slow And Steady Winter
[Hidden Shoal Recordings]

Barely a year on from his mesmerizing debut, “The Sound of Lights When Dim”, Washington-based Slow Dancing Society returns with a remarkable and contrasting follow-up, “The Slow and Steady Winter”.

The work of sound designer/guitarist Drew Sullivan, Slow Dancing Society’s debut explored the possibilities of soundscape artists such as Sigur Ros, Hammock and even Pink Floyd. It was Sullivan’s irony free love of stadium rock dynamics and subtle electronic elements that set his debut release apart from most others. Rarely has a predominantly ambient album featured so many euphoric crescendos.

The title of the follow up suitably portrays the theme Slow Dancing Society intends to delve into here. “The Slow and Steady Winter’s” sound is firmly anchored in all things cold, dark and, at times, unsettling. It charts the ghostly fogs, dense clouds and the descent into winter darkness through to the rise of the first signs of spring.

Built upon the blueprints drawn by Brian Eno, Sullivan’ second effort still displays his superb handling of melody that was so apparent on his debut. This time though, he has eschewed the inventive programming touches that gave his previous release that extra bit of sparkle.

The epic opener “The Early Stage of Decline” immediately drops the temperature somewhat, shrouding the listener in the first tentative winter mists. Sullivan portrays this by weaving shimmering drones and ethereal night howls, a sound that wouldn’t be too out of place scoring a graveyard scene of a horror film. The summer is almost gone.

“Depths of December” plummets further into the Arctic darkness, black clouds are represented with subdued, dense distortion and crackling, distant voices that are combined with thuds of bass and reverb to ensure we are aware ominous storms are brewing on the horizon, waiting patiently to strike.

By the third track, “A Slow and Steady Winter” we are already well into the midst of the biting cold’s grasp. The vicious storms may have passed, but now everything is covered in a thick blanket of glistening ice. The world is silent, everything at a standstill, as Sullivan envelops us with a glacial passage of echoic guitar and crystalline chimes to ensure we heed his warnings and remain behind closed doors.

With each track possessing qualities that evoke images of the varying degrees of winter , “Never Ending” represents the arrows of light that sometimes puncture the grey clouds of January only to be swallowed up almost in the same instance. It reminds of the sort of bleak situation that inevitably leads us to wonder if these unforgiving months will ever end. The first smatterings of optimism come with “Romantica”, the euphoric vocal washes mixed with anthemic guitar work alleging that the summer may be strong enough to fight back.

Penultimate track, “The Rest of Our Lives” precedes “February Sun” perfectly, setting the tone with beautiful, cascading guitar notes and sparse, reverbed percussion. It leaves the perfect opportunity for the “February Sun” to break free from the shackles of winter to the lighter climes of Sullivan’s debut record. It may still be cold, but the cathartic waves of distortion, not only show Sullivan’s superb handling of post-rock dynamics, but represent the first real signs of the decline of winter.

Gone are the dark, depressing, cold and impossible days of those months. With “February Sun” growing in strength in tandem with the seconds ticking away, floods of exuberance will bathe the listener as they anticipate every climatic crescendo. When the winter months pound you relentlessly with their stubborn, unfeeling ways, have “The Slow and Steady Winter” at hand, play it all the way through and bask in the knowledge (and glory) of “February Sun”, that winter cannot last forever.

Track Listing:

1. The Early Stages Of Decline
2. Depths Of December
3. A Slow And Steady Winter
4. The Time We've Spent
5. Never Ending
6. Romantica
7. The Rest Of Our Lives
8. February Sun