New Subscriber Playlist: “A Slowcore Revival”

Last month, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Cal Cashin’s article about the ongoing slowcore revival, which highlighted the genre’s unlikely popularity on social media. And I say unlikely, because few genres seem as aesthetically opposed to virality as slowcore.

As its name implies, slowcore is all about playing slower than slow, emphasizing sparse arrangements and rhythms, and most importantly, the space between the notes as much as the notes themselves. It’s a demanding genre, practically bordering on experimental at times, as artists stretch their songs to the breaking point. But it can be a deeply rewarding genre, as well, encouraging listeners to sit down and really pay attention to the dynamics — and anything that encourages us to slow down and take notice is a good thing in our current social and political climate.

This month’s playlist, titled “A Slowcore Revival,” contains 90+ minutes of slowcore classics from some of the genre’s foundational artists alongside more obscure acts and even some representatives from the genre’s newer generations.

Accompanying the playlist is the latest episode of my “Playlist Breakdown” podcast, in which I spotlight one of the playlist’s songs and why it’s so special, interesting, and/or meaningful. This month’s episode focuses on “To the Shore,” a stirring dream pop ballad from Sleep Experiments’ final (unfortunately) album, 2016’s Passages.

Both of these are little bonuses for subscribers who support Opus financially. If you’d like to get access to them (and more), subscribe to Opus for just $5.00/month or $50/year. (You can also subscribe for free and get my weekend newsletter.)