NO SLOWING DOWN FOR SLOWCOACHING
If you are familiar with the name Slowcoaching, celebrate with us in this reintroduction…
If you are unfamiliar, then allow us the pleasure.
Slowcoaching is the long-living, dream-pop project of Naarm / Melbourne musician and songwriter, Dean Valentino.
After a long 5 year absence, Dean has finally brought the project out of radio silence and back to life with new single “It was nice meeting you” earlier this year. This single and its eye-catching video are just the beginning, with this second single “Toothache” out today—May 29, and the upcoming debut album penciled for August..
Dean describes “It was nice meeting you” as “an exploration of feeling invisible and finding comfort in mundane moments”… This introspective song boasts an impressive production quality that surpasses labels like ‘lo-fi’ or even ‘indie rock’, and is a great development on Slowcoaching’s early work… The sound grows dramatically from the song’s beginning, graduating from coarse ambient sound to a head bopping bass line, then to an anthemic chorus, all in the first minute. “It was nice meeting you” is accompanied by a video directed by Gina Somfleth, which compliments the hazy quality of the song with a cozy surreal adventure — part romantic comedy, part bad dream — that leaves us laughing, happily confused.
After sitting dormant for some years now, Dean Valentino makes giant leaps forward with Slowcoaching in these new singles, in both their production and songwriting. Slowcoaching’s “Pillars of Salt” and “Fernweh” from their 2017 EP All the Same are pure folk anthems and fan favourites, and perhaps the stars of the project previously. Here, Dean’s unique melodies and his confessional lyrics are laid bare before us. In the new singles “It was nice to meet you” and the anticipated “Toothache”, Dean finds contrast to the stoic simplicity of his early folk music through the reverb, delay and chorus that is radiating in the mix.
“Toothache” is a slow burning, jangling genre hybrid with an unbelievably cool haze on it’s production. This song holds folk and dream pop one in each hand, the jangle of the guitars evoking both styles simultaneously. The steady acoustic guitar comes and goes from the forefront of the song, but is grounded in it’s rhythm section. It sits high above the chorus drenched vocals and the echoing lead guitar and synth strings; a constant with a simple clarity. While it is these reverb-laden, whirring instruments that give “Toothache” it’s warm glow, this guitar and it’s percussive strums lead the song. Produced and mixed with James Freeman, who worked with Dean on the entire record, the single is perfectly polished. Though, while being as ornate as it is, ‘Toothache’ still grooves like a rock classic, the ripping guitar solo after the first chorus also proves this.
Dean remembers how this single had lived as ‘a gibberish but loveable demo on my hard drive for so long” before transforming into this new classic. This resonates as such a honest insight to how good music gets made. With this in mind, we can only wait patiently and wonder what the rest of the album will hold. Until then, give “Toothache” a listen here now!
