Slalom D – Waltz Into Anarchy

Ask any DIY band enthusiast in the North East of England and the name Slalom D will bring a smile to their face, a band that have taken the scene by storm over the last few years, they have sky rocketed after the release of their last 2 albums in particular.  Happy Skies released back in 2021 gave lead singer Fiona her first entry into album territory and a huge input into the song writing, and it was a triumph of collaboration, the band just gelled perfectly in style and thought. Its a 5 piece now and each part is dependant on the other, there’s not one stand out in this band, they all contribute to the whole in such a selfless way.  

The Drums (Iain Murray) are never over powering but boy do they power through each song, the Bass (Tony Lindstedt) is like a the blood running through the veins of the songs, the Guitar (Gary Roberts) has an etherial sound that just is and should never be underestimated, the addition of the keyboard (Andrew Scobie) in the last year or so has been a revelation that could never be taken back, and then the Vocal (Fiona Duncan) adds the venom and compassion that makes up the what is essentially an eco system of musical coherence.

2023 is almost out, but the fire has just lit, this is quite simply the feeling you get as ‘Red’ hits you with its fire and fury, “red mouths in the silence scream” a political and social truism at this point in the UK’s history, a point said with all the conviction it deserves.  ‘Empire’ comes in next, it uses most wonderfully Andrew Scoble’s keyboard to add that sense of foreboding, the end of an era, the fading away of something, no bowing out, just disappearing, this could be attributed to anything, but you get the sense of sadness through local pride.

What your never far away from with Slalom D is their sense of pride and sadness that comes from living in Sunderland, a town that’s suffered like many under the thumb of successive profiteering governments that never put the people first, this is never lost in the music/lyrics, history teaches us so much, it also gives us moments that should never be allowed repeated  ‘Waltz Into Anarchy’ and ‘Burning Days’ give two different thoughts, a sense of daydreaming into chaos, then a lament at why we should never fall back, the reasons are clear why we should never let it happen again, the bad old days not the “good old days”, days of heavenly rule?

Intentionally or not, this album has so much more melody pouring out of every corner, but the angst is never lost within this, the balance is damn near perfect, ‘L’Appel Du Vide’ (Call Of The Void) takes this to is anthemic best, a sing-a-long that drops some wonderful bass lines and sublime keyboard undercurrents, but then you get to ‘Cold’ and this pushes the bar even higher, the compassion is there, but the anger at multinationals and government is front and centre.

My two stand outs on this multi award winning album (yes it should be, fuck the corporate music business), are ‘Cats And Dogs’ and ‘Discordance’ both for so many different reasons, the first because its just an absolute banger of a song that takes a local legend and blows it into reality, how dangerous innocence can be (go read up on the Cats n Dogs steps at Roker in Sunderland), then the latter because it has everything that Slalom D is and can be all wrapped up, a co-op of a band where one is never greater than its sum, I refer you back to my second paragraph, its a eco system of a band and this song sums this all up in 5 mins plus.

I’ve watched this band grow and grow over its many years, now with the Waltz Into Anarchy album, the Phoenix can positively burn bright!, 6 out of 5 is not a thing to say lightly, but this album deserves every inch of it.

Out October 8th for digital and CD, vinyl to come not soon after. Go pre order from Serial Bowl Records

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