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With their brand new album Daisy Chain dropping into the world today, beloved Melbourne indie rockers Slowly Slowly have astonishingly levelled up from already great heights. Following the release of Race Care Blues and Race Car Blues Chapter Two in 2020 and 2021 respectively, Daisy Chain welcomes listeners with open arms into a world of catchy tunes and starkly intimate lyricism. Showcasing themselves as insatiable leaders in the modern indie and rock realms, Daisy Chain packs in hooks, heartfelt narratives and the creamy yet captivating trademark sound that Slowly Slowly have spent over seven years finessing; and, in frontman Ben Stewart's case, it's been a lifetime and a labour of love that has ultimately led to the most assured and authentic version of the band to date.
Notably covering some darker lyrical territory on album #5, Daisy Chain showcases Ben’s own personal strides to discover himself both as an artist and a human in general; and the end result is simultaneously something that can soundtrack your summer and a collection of songs that intimately challenge and inspire the status quo. Punchy yet poignant, catchy yet cathartic, Daisy Chain is a true triumph for Slowly Slowly; and while it’s strictly not a lockdown album, as Ben elaborates on in today’s episode, its end result mixes songs years in the making with a brand new sonic identity for the band. Fresh off some epic shows around the country and ahead of some acoustic launch shows and a screening tomorrow night of the Slowly Slowly documentary Back To Basics, Back On My Bullsh*t, join Ben on Behind The Soundcheck with host Tiana Speter today, diving a little deeper into Daisy Chain, songs 10 decades in the making with childhood heroes and returning to play on the very stage that launched his live musical journey as a teenager.
IN THIS EPISODE:
The juxtaposition between Race Car Blues and Daisy Chain, self-actualisation, and the overall purpose that drives and underpins Daisy Chain overall.
Ben strictly not referring to Daisy Chain as a lockdown record, but the inevitable shape the record took as a result of the past few years.
The reality of launching Race Car Blues just as the pandemic was starting to take hold in Australia, but how the time also allowed the band to truly ask themselves: what kind of band do they want to be?
The integral role of Daisy Chain's title track on the album, the loop-like structure of the album explained, and metaphors related to relationships and volcanoes that ultimately inspired the album title.
The extensive backstory a decade in the making that saw the track Moving Trains finally evolve from a demo that nearly made it onto every previous Slowly Slowly album into a full-blown track on Daisy Chain; and it also becoming a genuine "sliding doors" moment for Ben with Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional fame.
Ben's experience recently returning to Croydon to play in the very venue that he frequented as a kid, performing on the very stage where he played his first ever live gig at as a teenager.
The importance of all ages shows, and Ben's passion for helping young people find their path with music.
CATCH BEN ON EPISODE 9, SEASON 2 OF THE SOUNDCHECK'S PODCAST BEHIND THE SOUNDCHECK BELOW, ON SPOTIFY, APPLE PODCASTS - OR CHECK IT OUT WHEREVER YOU GET YOUR PODCASTS FROM.
BEHIND THE SOUNDCHECK
HOST & PRODUCER: Tiana Speter
GUEST: Ben Stewart (Slowly Slowly)
THEME SONG: Hall Of Shame by Osaka Punch
SLOWLY SLOWLY'S NEW ALBUM DAISY CHAIN IS OUT TODAY VIA UNFD.
FOR MORE INFO HEAD HERE.
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BY TIANA SPETER