Sewing + Slow Club (SEW CLUB?)

Summer has officially begun, and now that Wimbledon is over I am finding myself with little to do. Haha, kidding. I just got a new sewing machine! I am notoriously fussy when it comes to sewing machines, with a preference of Janome machines and top loading bobbins. I intend to spend my whole summer sewing (besides that hour I take out to watch Four Weddings) and my goal is to love sewing by September. Maybe that's a bit ambitious. I don't think I will ever love sewing. But I'd at least like to improve my sewing.

A stream of Slow Club's eagerly anticipated third album also dropped this week. Titled "Complete Surrender" (BY THE WAY a great title I like it a lot) it was set to be a great follow up to 2011's Paradise. And it was!
A few months ago Slow Club revealed the first snippet of their new material, album opener Tears Of Joy. It's a very typical Slow Club track, with hints of both Yeah, So and Paradise woven through it. The second track released, title track Complete Surrender, is where things really got exciting. It feels like a natural progression from the bold and atmospheric sounds of Paradise, with a groovy twist. I read a review somewhere that stated it sounds like a Bond theme, and that's the perfect way to describe it. Perhaps my favourite Slow Club track alongside Beginners, Two Cousins and If We're Still Alive.
That groove is a continuous theme throughout the entire album. It all feels floaty and flamboyant, big and bold. Everything Is New sounds like a bombastic finale, but is in fact only the second track. Suffering You, Suffering Me is deceiving - it starts off with some very ballad-y vibes, but ends as a funky, upbeat track. Like, one of those songs people dance down the street to in TV adverts.
All in all, I'd say this is Slow Club's best album, and they seem to get better with each one. Complete Surrender is one of my favourite albums of 2014 so far, and already my favourite album title.
Favourites: Complete Surrender, The Pieces, Everything Is New, Not Mine To Love, Tears Of Joy, The Queen's Nose

SUMMER MEGAMIX

Making "summery" playlists when most of what you listen to could be described as "summery" is both a blessing and a curse. Sure, you have loads to choose from, but perhaps too much. I found it impossible to narrow this down to a reasonable length (I aimed for 20 tracks) so here it is as a "summer megamix." A whole 2 hours and 46 minutes of groovy summery goodness, arranged in a somewhat flowing order. 

Tracks:

1. Girls - Morning Light
2. Splashh - All I Wanna Do
3. Palma Violets - Best Of Friends
4. Cults - I Can Hardly Make You Mine
5. Coves - Wake Up
6. Arctic Monkeys - The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala
7. DIIV - Wait
8. Yuck - Middle Sea
9. Coves - Fall Out Of Love
10. SKATERS - I Wanna Dance (But I Don't Know How)
11. Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold II
12. Drowners - Long Hair
13. Dom - Bowl Cut (ft. Madeline Follin of Cults)
14. Bully - Brainfreeze
15. Bleeding Knees Club - Teenage Girls
16. FIDLAR - No Waves
17. Wavves - Nodding Off (ft. Best Coast)
18. Yuck - Holing Out
19. Splashh - Need It
20. Twin Peaks - Stand In The Sand
21. Girls - Summertime
22. Melody's Echo Chamber - I Follow You
23. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - So Good At Being In Trouble
24. Tame Impala - Feels Like We Only Go Backwards
25. JAWS - Gold
26. Slow Club - If We're Still Alive
27. FEMME - Fever Boy
28. Blood Orange - You're Not Good Enough
29. Solange - Losing You
30. Peace - Bloodshake
31. Dom - Living In America
32. Spector - Celestine
33. Girls - Hellhole Ratrace
34. Cajun Dance Party - Colourful Life
35. The Drums - Forever And Ever Amen
36. Foals - My Number
37. Metronomy - The Bay
38. Best Coast - Boyfriend
39. Sky Ferreira - Everything Is Embarrassing
40. Cults - Go Outside
41. The Horrors - Still Life
42. Temples - Colours To Life
43. Best Coast - The Only Place
44. Icona Pop - I Love It (ft. Charli XCX)
45. Ultraista - Bad Insect
46. Yuck - Shook Down

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