Album Review
Swim Deep - Mothers
5 StarsDangerous gambles that all pay out.
It’s better to do something assertively than anything plagued with self-doubt. An argument with more holes than David Cameron’s spit roast, unless you’re in a band aiming to make anything close to popular music. On their frst album, Swim Deep should have had it all. A rabid fan base, more than enough buzz - but somehow they didn’t become the biggest band on the planet. Second time around, there’ll be no what ifs. No regrets. They’re swinging big - for glory or glorious defeat.
That’s where the magic starts. On ‘Mothers’, the now-fve-piece have left nothing on the table. More than one kitchen sink has been proudly gafertaped to their musical fun bus; every idea - however half-formed - integrated with complete confdence. Delivered with the swagger of someone who’s just half-inched Joseph’s Technicolor Dreamcoat, it works spectacularly.
‘One Great Song And I Could Change The World’ lives up to its billing - augmented with any and every groove available. ‘To My Brother’ sparkles with 80s sheen, matched comfortably in the earworm stakes by ‘Namaste’ - a song doubtlessly originally intercepted en route to an A-list 90s boy band. ‘Grand Afection’’s veins practically run neon, while closer ‘Fueiho Boogie’ explodes time and time again into increasingly more ridiculous krautrock techno extravaganzas.
No sane band would consider any one of these a safe banker. Though a single musical thread runs though, at any given point anything feels possible. As each chance is taken, each experiment kicks in, it seems impossible that eventually one won’t fall fat. And yet it never really happens. Instead, they feel brave, fresh, exciting and - in their own way - like dangerous gambles that all pay out. With ‘Mothers’, Swim Deep may not quite change the wider world, but they’ve certainly changed theirs.
Latest News
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Swim Deep unveil video for latest track ‘First Song’
The band are due to head out on tour around the UK and Europe later this year.
4th April 2024, 1:25pm
Swim Deep collab with Bill Ryder-Jones on new single ‘How Many Love Songs Have Died In Vegas?’
It's the first track to be lifted from their just-announced new album 'There's A Big Star Outside…'
21st February 2024, 11:59am
Swim Deep & Jenny Lee Lindberg pair up for ‘King City’ (jennylee’s version)
Swim Deep will soon tour the UK to celebrate ten years of ‘Where The Heaven Are We’.
28th April 2023, 12:00am
Swim Deep announce 10th anniversary tour of ‘Where The Heaven Are We’
They’ll be performing across the UK in May and June.
7th February 2023, 12:00am
With Bob Vylan, St Vincent, girl in red, Lizzy McAlpine and more.