Slow Summits is the fifth studio album by the Scottish band The Pastels, re… Read Full Bio ↴Slow Summits is the fifth studio album by the Scottish band The Pastels, released via Domino Recording Company in 2013. The album was their first proper studio album since 1997's Illumination, having released a soundtrack album and a collaborative album with Japanese avant-pop band Tenniscoats in between.
The album was announced on New Years Eve 2012 with a teaser video. The release preceded by the single "Check My Heart" in April 2013, backed by the B-side "Illuminum Song". In select UK independent record stores, the album was accompanied by a bonus mix CD of songs that inspired Stephen and Katrina during the making of the album entitled Insane Energy Drop. The physical copies did not come with a tracklisting. The mix was also uploaded online and a competition was held for fans to identify all the tracks. The person who identified the most tracks was offered a signed print of the album cover, something from The Pastels own archive, and a record of their choice from the Domino catalogue. The mix includes tracks by Movietone, Strawberry Switchblade, To Rococo Rot, Ela Orleans, Teenage Fanclub, International Airport, Faust and Television Personalities amongst others. A video for "Kicking Leaves" was released in November. The group promoted the album with selected dates across the UK and Europe and have continued to perform in these territories yearly since the album's release.
Stephen Pastel has explained that the large gap between albums stemmed partly from Annabel Wright's departure and being unsure of what direction to go in, but that their work on The Last Great Wilderness and providing music for theatre gave them an idea of the type of music they wanted to make and were capable of making; "We had a really good experience doing that and it progressed ideas that we had about the kind of music that we could make and the core elements of what The Pastels were about". A number of guests appear on the album including Gerard Love and Norman Blake from Teenage Fanclub, Ronald Lippok of To Rococo Rot and Saya & Takashi Ueno of Tenniscoats. The cover art was designed by former member Annabel Wright.
Given the album's long gestation period, some of the tracks on the record were written as far back as 1999 and had been part of the group's live set for a number of years. "Secret Music" and "Slow Summits" were both recorded for their last John Peel session in August 1999; the latter under the working title "Rundown Rendezvous". "Night Time Made Us" dates back to at least 2008, whilst versions of "Wrong Light" and "Slow Summits" (by then known as "Slowly Taking Place") were recorded for Marc Riley in March 2010 along with the as-yet unreleased track "The Ballad of Two Elms".
The album was influenced by a variety of different genres including krautrock, jazz, electronic music, soundtracks and art rock.
The album received largely positive reviews from the music press. Ryan Foley of The Quietus described Slow Summits as "an album that isn't as immediately arresting as previous releases yet is still honest and spirited. Sixteen years of dormancy has done nothing to dull the Pastels' emotional sharpness". Dom Gourlay from Drowned in Sound rated the album 8/10; "Slow Summits represents arguably their most lovelorn, and occasionally exploratory collection of songs to date. While not brash or boisterous like debut long player Up For A Bit... and its predecessor Sittin' Pretty, Slow Summits is everything one would hope and expect to hear from a band cited as an influence by anyone and everyone from Kurt Cobain and Stuart Murdoch to Bobby Gillespie and Thurston Moore".
Personnel
The Pastels
Stephen McRobbie (or Stephen Pastel) – vocals, guitar
Katrina Mitchell – vocals, drums, percussion, keyboards
Tom Crossley – flute, keyboards
Alison Mitchell – trumpet
Gerard Love – bass guitar
John Hogarty – guitar
Additional personnelt
Norman Blake – guitar, backing vocals
Annabel "Aggi" Wright – cover artwork, backing vocals on "Secret Music"
Bill Wells – guitar, keyboards
Colin McIlroy – guitar
Ronald Lippok – drums
Stefan Schneider – keyboards
Alison Lawrance – cello
Xander Van Vilet – violin
Lorna Rough – violin
Jane Atkins – viola
Craig Armstrong – string arrangements
Tenniscoats – featured artists
Takuji Aoyagi – guitar
Bal Cooke – engineer
Tony Doogan – engineer
Paul Savage – engineer
John McEntire – producer and engineer
The album was announced on New Years Eve 2012 with a teaser video. The release preceded by the single "Check My Heart" in April 2013, backed by the B-side "Illuminum Song". In select UK independent record stores, the album was accompanied by a bonus mix CD of songs that inspired Stephen and Katrina during the making of the album entitled Insane Energy Drop. The physical copies did not come with a tracklisting. The mix was also uploaded online and a competition was held for fans to identify all the tracks. The person who identified the most tracks was offered a signed print of the album cover, something from The Pastels own archive, and a record of their choice from the Domino catalogue. The mix includes tracks by Movietone, Strawberry Switchblade, To Rococo Rot, Ela Orleans, Teenage Fanclub, International Airport, Faust and Television Personalities amongst others. A video for "Kicking Leaves" was released in November. The group promoted the album with selected dates across the UK and Europe and have continued to perform in these territories yearly since the album's release.
Stephen Pastel has explained that the large gap between albums stemmed partly from Annabel Wright's departure and being unsure of what direction to go in, but that their work on The Last Great Wilderness and providing music for theatre gave them an idea of the type of music they wanted to make and were capable of making; "We had a really good experience doing that and it progressed ideas that we had about the kind of music that we could make and the core elements of what The Pastels were about". A number of guests appear on the album including Gerard Love and Norman Blake from Teenage Fanclub, Ronald Lippok of To Rococo Rot and Saya & Takashi Ueno of Tenniscoats. The cover art was designed by former member Annabel Wright.
Given the album's long gestation period, some of the tracks on the record were written as far back as 1999 and had been part of the group's live set for a number of years. "Secret Music" and "Slow Summits" were both recorded for their last John Peel session in August 1999; the latter under the working title "Rundown Rendezvous". "Night Time Made Us" dates back to at least 2008, whilst versions of "Wrong Light" and "Slow Summits" (by then known as "Slowly Taking Place") were recorded for Marc Riley in March 2010 along with the as-yet unreleased track "The Ballad of Two Elms".
The album was influenced by a variety of different genres including krautrock, jazz, electronic music, soundtracks and art rock.
The album received largely positive reviews from the music press. Ryan Foley of The Quietus described Slow Summits as "an album that isn't as immediately arresting as previous releases yet is still honest and spirited. Sixteen years of dormancy has done nothing to dull the Pastels' emotional sharpness". Dom Gourlay from Drowned in Sound rated the album 8/10; "Slow Summits represents arguably their most lovelorn, and occasionally exploratory collection of songs to date. While not brash or boisterous like debut long player Up For A Bit... and its predecessor Sittin' Pretty, Slow Summits is everything one would hope and expect to hear from a band cited as an influence by anyone and everyone from Kurt Cobain and Stuart Murdoch to Bobby Gillespie and Thurston Moore".
Personnel
The Pastels
Stephen McRobbie (or Stephen Pastel) – vocals, guitar
Katrina Mitchell – vocals, drums, percussion, keyboards
Tom Crossley – flute, keyboards
Alison Mitchell – trumpet
Gerard Love – bass guitar
John Hogarty – guitar
Additional personnelt
Norman Blake – guitar, backing vocals
Annabel "Aggi" Wright – cover artwork, backing vocals on "Secret Music"
Bill Wells – guitar, keyboards
Colin McIlroy – guitar
Ronald Lippok – drums
Stefan Schneider – keyboards
Alison Lawrance – cello
Xander Van Vilet – violin
Lorna Rough – violin
Jane Atkins – viola
Craig Armstrong – string arrangements
Tenniscoats – featured artists
Takuji Aoyagi – guitar
Bal Cooke – engineer
Tony Doogan – engineer
Paul Savage – engineer
John McEntire – producer and engineer
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Slow Summits
The Pastels Lyrics
Boats Row Row Rowing my boat Row Rowing my boat Row Row Row Rowing…
Check My Heart Check my heart Check your heart Check my heart You check you…
Kicking Leaves When we're kicking leaves In November freeze And you smile W…
Night Time Made Us In the shed of my parent's house I can always…
Secret Music Rain is falling on a European street Park your car outside…
Summer Rain Summer rain I will meet you in the lane Summer rain on…