Souvlaki (album)

Souvlakiis the secondstudio albumby the EnglishrockbandSlowdive. It was recorded in 1992, and released on 1 June 1993 byCreation Records.
On its initial release,Souvlakipeaked at number 51 on theUK Albums Chartand was greeted with tepid reviews from critics. It has since received retrospective critical acclaim and has been hailed as a classic of theshoegazegenre.
Prior to the writing ofSouvlaki, Slowdive co-vocalists and guitaristsRachel GoswellandNeil Halsteadhad ended their relationship and Halstead began to spend more time writing songs alone, a process that had been completed by the full band in the past.
The album's title was inspired from a skit by Americanprank callcomedy duoThe Jerky Boys, where one of the duo telephones a hotel manager requesting him to perform sexual acts on his wife. Upon learning the manager is Greek, the caller says: "My wife loves that Greek shit... She'll suck your cock likesouvlaki."
While touring Europe in early 1992, Slowdive began tentative work onSouvlaki, writing and recording multiple takes of around 40 potential songs.According to the band's chief songwriter Neil Halstead, these early songs were influenced byJoy Divisionand theDavid Bowiestudio albumsLow(1977) andLodger(1979).Alan McGee, the head of Slowdive's labelCreation Records, was unimpressed by the band's material and rejected it, though he later decided to give Slowdive full creative control over the album.
After returning to the United Kingdom following a May 1992 tour of the United States, Slowdive contactedBrian Eno, of whom Halstead was a "big" fan, and requested that he produceSouvlaki.While Eno declined, he did agree to spend a few days recording with Slowdive, and out of these sessions came the tracks "Sing" and "Here She Comes".Following the sessions with Eno, Halstead began to take greater influence fromambient musicin his songwriting; he has citedAphex Twin,dub music, and earlydrum and bassas influences for the track "Souvlaki Space Station".
Meanwhile, Halstead was in a fragile emotional state due to his recent breakup with Goswell.At the suggestion of Slowdive's manager, Halstead temporarily exited the recording sessions forSouvlakiin the summer of 1992 and travelled to Wales, where he stayed in a rented cottage for around two weeks.In Halstead's absence, only bassist Nick Chaplin and guitaristChristian Savillpersisted in recording material, though Savill would later recall that he and Chaplin ended up merely recording several "joke songs".By the time he returned, Halstead had written a new batch of "stark and much more personal" songs, including "Dagger", which would make the final album.He has said that the lyrics he penned during this period were informed by both his solitary living conditions in Wales and his feelings about the end of his relationship with Goswell.
Souvlakiwas mixed byEd Buller, who had previously worked withSuedeandSpiritualized.
Souvlakiwas released on 1 June 1993 through Creation Records.It peaked at number 51 on theUK Albums Chartdated 12 June 1993, 19 places lower than Slowdive's debut studio albumJust for a Day(1991), and spent one week on the chart.It was released in the US throughSBK Recordson 8 February 1994.The US release included four bonus tracks: a previously unreleased cover of "Some Velvet Morning" (written byLee Hazlewoodand originally recorded by Hazlewood andNancy Sinatrain 1967), and three tracks from Slowdive's 19935extended play(EP).
A two-discremasteredreissue ofSouvlakiwas released in 2005 byCastle Music, a subsidiary label ofSanctuary Records.The second disc featured the "Some Velvet Morning" cover, two tracks from Slowdive's 1993Outside Your RoomEP, all tracks from their5EP, andBanduluandReloadremixes of5track "In Mind". Another two-disc remaster was released byCherry Red Recordson 16 August 2010, featuring the same bonus tracks on the second disc.
Souvlakiwas released in the UK to middling reviews from critics.Dave Simpson ofMelody Makerwrote:"'Sing' aside, I would rather drown choking in a bath full of porridge than ever listen to it again."John Mulvey ofNMEreacted with muted praise, callingSouvlaki"another exemplary product from spangly guitar heaven" yet ultimately deeming it a "pretty, but unfulfilled" album.In 2015, Slowdive and Alan McGee stated that they felt thatSouvlakiwas released at a time whendream popandshoegazehad become unfashionable and the music press were more interested inBritpopbands such asOasis.
In later years,Souvlakihas been met with more widespread acclaim.In a retrospective review forAllMusic, Jack Rabid praised the album as "quiet, moving, and aggressive simultaneously, mixing trance-like beauty with the deepest delayed guitar sounds around, a sound at once relaxing, soothing, and exciting, and most of all harshly beautiful."Nitsuh Abebe ofPitchforkdescribed it as "a bit of anEssential Slowdivein itself", with songs that are simultaneously "pillowy-soft and passionately deep".Paste's Zach Schonfeld calledSouvlaki"the definitive shoegaze statement".
In 1999, critic Ned Raggett rankedSouvlakiat number 83 on his list of the best albums of the 1990s forFreaky Trigger.Pitchforkreleased a documentary about the album in 2015 as part of itsPitchforkClassic series.The following year, the website listedSouvlakias the second best shoegaze album of all time.Souvlakihas since been recognized asone of the best releases of the 1990sand one of the greatest shoegaze albums of all time by the websitesNMEandPopMatters.
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.