Cincinnati, Ohio. Not the first place you’d think of when you’re looking for an incubator of shoegaze and dream pop textures. Individual bands are making credible noises in corners of Ohio, but the sound remains largely underrepresented in Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati. Slow Glows calls Cincy home, and they’re flying the flag high. Their last album, Stargaze Rock ‘n’ Roll, made a splash on our airwaves, and the single, “Spiderland” remains in permanent rotation to this day. So it’s a bit of a shock that they’ve got a follow-up only six months later. But it’s 2020, and Slow Glows is not a squad to rest on their laurels.
We’re thrilled to present the streaming and video premiere for the new single from Slow Glows. “Sigh” features a delicate touch, light psychedelic flourishes, and a slow propulsion that carries you from beginning to end. Press play below, we’ll get you more detail about the release afterward.
Comprised of Kelli Redding, Rachel Thode, and Ian Gorby, Slow Glows is about to set out on their first tour of 2020. First though, the band is releasing their new song, “Sigh,” accompanied by a dreamy and wandering music video. Here are some of guitarist and vocalist Kelli Redding’s thoughts about the song and video:
“I wrote ‘Sigh’ one really snowy day last year, on acoustic guitar. I struggle with seasonal depression pretty badly and was in a dark place during that time, but I always take comfort in the days I have enough energy to indulge in creative work like songwriting. I’m usually drawn to simple melodies and warm chord structures, so I like to write music that reminds me of summer. ‘Sigh’ was no different, but this time around I had more variety in the delay and reverb effects I used to convey the song’s feeling once I transferred it to electric guitar. My bandmates jumped right into it and the full band structure of the song came about very easily.
“I like people to take from my songs what they want, rather than me telling them exactly what it’s about, but I really hoped to convey a feeling of loneliness or isolation with this one that others can relate to. But there’s still a beauty to it, at least in my experience, even when I’m feeling very distant from people around me I can still see the beauty in things like my natural surroundings, the stars, the sky, the sunrise, and so on. I guess the contemplation of that is what the song is about.
“I shot most of the video last year while we were driving to shows out of town, this one is mostly in West Virginia and North Carolina. I don’t like to force meaning of a song through video, so whenever I put something together I prefer it to be more of a nice visual accompaniment to the audio, with the goal of simply capturing the mood of the song as a result. I don’t have any nice camera equipment or software yet, but it’s still fun for me to play with the colors and lighting. I’m pretty happy with how this one turned out.”
Slow Glows is playing a tour kickoff show this Friday, at MOTR Pub in their hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. Their tour dates begin next week, as follows:
3/6 – Cincinnati, OH – MOTR Pub (tour kickoff!)
3/10 – Bowling Green, KY – Tidball’s
3/11 – Memphis, TN – Pagan Mom House
3/12 – Nashville, TN – Betty’s Grill
3/13 – Hattiesburg, MS – The Thirsty Hippo
3/14 – Baton Rouge, LA – Southside Arts Center
3/16 – Lafayette, LA – Boom Boom Room
3/17 – Houston, TX – Super Happy Fun Land
3/18 – San Antonio, TX – Lost Horse
3/21 – Dallas, TX – Tradewinds Bar
3/22 – Denton, TX – Andy’s Bar
3/24 – Wichita, KS – Kirby’s Beer Store
3/25 – Tulsa, OK – The Soundpony
3/26 – Kansas City, MO – Bushranger Records
3/27 – St Louis, MO – Heavy Anchor
3/28 – Bloomington, IN – The Shred
Keep up with Slow Glows and their tour stops via their Facebook page, and purchase Slow Glows releases via Bandcamp. You can also find them on Spotify, if you prefer to rent your music!
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