Slow Dance '20

From the unanimously detested 2020, a year characterised by chaos, stasis, cancellations and postponements for the music industry comes one final gem: Slow Dance ‘20. The London label’s annual collection is a 16-track smorgasbord of of characteristically genre-fluid picks, spanning all manner of electronic music from harsh techno to expansive ambience, lo-fi bedroom productions, some of the most exciting new bands and solo artists selected from every corner of their network and beyond. With the label releasing one track per day throughout January with the entire album out on 26th January, 2021 begins with its own advent calendar of surprises. Previous compilations have been a disclosure of what's brewing in the UK underground, previously featuring early tracks from otta, Khazali and Lynks, as well as solo debuts from members of Sorry, black midi and Goat Girl. Slow Dance ‘20 contains further debuts this year: the first releases from London’s Folly Group and Butch Kassidy, bands the label caught live early on in the year, whose key moment of inital gigging was lost in lockdown. HALIMA’s “Filling The Void” (produced by Saint Jude) and LUI’s “Nothing Left To Say” (produced by Glows) are both debuts from newcomers hotly-tipped by the label. Bunny Hoova and comfort played Slow Dance shows before the lockdown at their new venue, Slow Space. When this was shut down due to the pandemic, the label started a radio station where they encouraged peers and followers to send in demos and new music. It was through this that solo artists like Alex Loveless and Julia Sophie could be discovered and provided the label a vital way of engaging with new music in lieu of sorely missed gigs. The compilation also contains a few familiar names, Platonica Erotica - self-described as the greek god of singing karaoke to your crush (in your imagination), teases her imminent conquering of 2021 with the dreamlike, swirling ballad “ILYSM”. EMU (Ex Mothers’ Union), a collective of rotating musicians who perform mostly improvised, expansive bodies of work also return with “Waiting Room (Excerpt)”. The label’s founder GG Skips of Glows is a regular as is black midi’s Geordie Greep, and this recording (from Stoke Newington venue The Waiting Room, 11.11.19) features Slow Dance alumni and regular collaborators Martha Skye Murphy (vocals), Felix Stock (bass), Kit Mosely (Guitar) and Si Richards (Modular synth).