Carving out a world where shoegaze’s dreamlike textures collide with blistering heaviness and a sprinkling of hardcore punk grit, Slow Crush have always thrived on evolution.
From the shimmering haze of their 2018 full-length debut ‘Aurora’ to the warm reverbed embrace of 2021’s ‘Hush’, the Belgian quartet have remained in a state of constant motion, channelling life’s brutal realities into songs that whisk you away to new worlds.
Following an unrelenting cycle of touring, they’re emerging from the blur with ‘Thirst’, their first album released via new label home Pure Noise Records. At their heaviest, rawest, and most emotionally unguarded, it’s a collection of songs that feel urgent yet carefully contemplative, exploring the fragility of human connection, the complexity of love, and the relationship between desire and disillusionment.
Recorded alongside producer Lewis Johns (Rolo Tomassi, Svalbard, Pupil Slicer) at The Ranch in Southampton, its creation forced the band to dismantle any creative limits they’d set for themselves. Their usual vibrant textures, delicate riffs, and dreamy vocals coloured by countless subtle sonic quirks and glitches, it’s an album gleaming with details that could only have been caught in the moment. Immersive, atmospheric, and unafraid to bare its vulnerabilities, ‘Thirst’ is the kind of record that demands to be experienced in every dimension. The kind that creates its own world but invites every single listener to reshape that world into whatever they truly need it to be.
To dig deeper into its creation, Rock Sound caught up with vocalist/bassist Isa Holliday to talk about how life on the road has influenced Slow Crush, the emotional weight of ‘Thirst’, and why they will never stop chasing metamorphosis.
Rock Sound: Let’s rewind to when the dust started settling after ‘Hush’. Touring came back after the pandemic, and you dove into it headfirst. Playing overseas and having that non-stop forward motion, what kind of emotional and creative headspace were you in when it came time to think about ‘Thirst’?
Isa Holliday: When it comes to our writing, we’d had some of these songs for quite a while. But as you mentioned, it was only after the dust settled from all the touring that we could really fine-tune everything – get the i’s dotted, the t’s crossed and be ready for recording. We toured right up until the year before we hit the studio, and even while recording we were still playing quite a few shows.
Some songs were ready, but many others got thrown in the bin. Our process is very immediate – as soon as an idea comes up, we jump into our studio, track some guitars, get the drums down, and layer everything up as we go. We were doing that in between touring, even though there was barely any time. Then, at the beginning of last year, we really put our heads together, cut the fat, decided what would make the record, and layered everything even more.
When you’re on the road so much, it can be inspiring and give you energy, but it can also be draining. You need to have your face on every night, and remember to be nice to people, when all you want is your own bed. Being able to sit down and focus on the record gave us a fresh view on life, and something to work towards before hitting the studio with Lewis Johns [producer] in September.
RS: Lewis Johns is someone you’ve wanted to collaborate with for a while. How did that finally come together, and what made him the right person to shape this new chapter?
Isa: We’ve been working in The Ranch since ‘Aurora’, so we’ve known Lewis since we tracked that record. We kept in touch, he’d come to shows when we played nearby, and we’d always say, ‘Let’s make this happen.’ But the stars never aligned until now.
With the demos we had, we knew this would be perfect for him. We were at the point in our career where we wanted a different sonic perspective – still very much the Slow Crush sound, but with more oomph. Most of the bands he works with are heavier than us, so we were slightly nervous, but given our backgrounds in heavier music and previous bands we’ve all been in, it wasn’t a huge leap. We love his work, and we couldn’t be happier with the additions he made to these songs.
RS: It sounds like he pushed you into some unexpected creative corners too. Were there moments where his ideas completely changed the course of a song?
Isa: Oh, absolutely. The saxophone at the end of ‘Covet’ was all Lewis. He had an idea in his head, and he was like, ‘You might think this is a joke, but how about putting in a sax part?’ He played his idea on a keyboard, and it was just Jelle [Ronsmans, guitar] and I in the studio at the time, but we were sold immediately. It felt like the eighties, nineties, and the modern day all rolled into one. We messaged the rest of the band, everyone was on board, and Lewis got his friend Hamish to record it at home. He sent it through, and it was perfect. Fun fact, we almost had Robbie Williams’ saxophonist play on it. Lewis put out a call for sax players on his Instagram stories, and he was one of the candidates, but we went with Hamish in the end – and he nailed it.
RS: Every Slow Crush album feels like a metamorphosis. Do you go into each one actively trying to evolve, or does the growth just naturally come to reflect where you are in life?
Isa: It’s a bit of both. There’s always a natural evolution, but we’re conscious of not repeating ourselves. We want to surprise our audience, as well as ourselves. It’s boring for them if we’re playing the same things over and over again, but it’s also boring for us. We could write endless versions of ‘Glow’, but how long would people stay interested? A lot of bands play it safe and stick with one style that has worked for them previously, but that’s not compatible with our work ethic. We play what we love, and that’s naturally shaped by how we’re growing as people and what we learn from every show.
RS: There are moments on this record that get extremely vulnerable. That emotional intensity has always been a part of Slow Crush, but it feels more potent this time…
Isa: Authenticity is important to us. You have to be willing to show your vulnerable side, or you have to at least be aware that it can come out when you’re writing. You have to accept and embrace that if you want to make something convincing. You have to be able to feel that emotion when you’re tracking the songs, too. There were points during the recording where I had to do 10 or 20 takes just to get the words out. I had to find the balance between controlling my emotions and still making sure that they come out in the song. It was very self-confrontational for us, and we all felt how heavy some of these emotions can be. I think that heaviness gives the record its strength and power though, and Lewis was able to make it shine.
RS: Sometimes artists forget that fans pick up on that, too. They can tell when you’re putting your whole self into your music, and when you may be putting on a mask…
Isa: It’s interesting, because there are times when you do have to put on a mask to get through life. Going on stage every night, that is the ultimate challenge. If you’ve had a bad day or read the wrong email before you go on, you have to shut everything off and just be in the moment. That is the wonder of music though, because it can bring you into a completely different space. You’re not lying to fans; you’re just showing your authentic self without all of the drama or chaos that might be swimming around that. It’s an odd one, but I think that’s the only way that you can share your music convincingly.
RS: Did it feel cathartic to lean into that vulnerability in the end?
Isa: Yes and no. It’s cathartic to get those emotions out, but it’s also about learning to sit with them. Some things don’t resolve neatly – they just live with you, and you learn to carry them.
RS: ‘Bloodmoon’ feels like the real centrepiece of the album. It captures that sense of being lost in time, drifting without purpose, but still clinging to the idea that it’s somehow worth it. How does that song fit into the story of ‘Thirst’?
Isa: It’s a very grounding track. It brings the heaviness, but also the hopefulness. We actually considered opening the record with it, but after a lot of conversations we decided that its current placement ties everything together and makes the whole album make sense. It’s a perfect encapsulation of Slow Crush in just one track, so it was an extremely poignant piece for us to put down.
RS: There’s this soft, surreal atmosphere to the record, and so much of Slow Crush is about creating worlds around the songs. How much do you think about how something feels when you’re writing, rather than just how it sounds?
Isa: The songs should always evoke something in you, and our main goal is to make you forget about everything else while you’re listening to our music. We want you to be in the moment, and to let the music carry you wherever it wishes you to go. That’s why we love creating different atmospheres. We often hear from people at shows that they felt like they were floating above themselves during our set, looking down on everything. We also have a good amount of people tell us that they’ve cried through our sets. We tick that box of being able to reach the inner depths of people with our music, and that’s the ultimate compliment.
RS: Was that something you sought out as fans yourselves growing up?
Isa: Absolutely. No one gets through their teenage years without having a full mental breakdown over an album, thinking that every lyric is about them. It’s sad that sometimes that feeling is limited to the period when you’re going through puberty, though. It’s great to see grown people still having that experience with our music, and we often get messages from people telling us that they had their first kiss to one of our songs. It allows people that connection, and to know that we’re a part of the special moments in their lives is incredible.
RS: Often, the purest feelings like excitement and joy are written off as something childish or embarrassing. That’s what music should be about though, especially when it comes to the live show…
Isa: It comes back to vulnerability, and people being ashamed of showing their true emotions. It’s sad, and society has forced us to become more introverted in that respect. People are scared to dance at shows now, and I remember at one show we had a couple of people come up to us afterwards to tell us that they wanted to dance but didn’t because no one else was. It only takes one person to start, but no one wants to be that person. In Europe especially, crowds can be more reserved and try to play it cool. We want people to loosen up, and by going wild on stage hopefully it gives the crowd permission to do the same.
RS: Finally, when people put their headphones on and fully immerse themselves in ‘Thirst’ for the first time, what do you hope they feel?
Isa:Honestly? I just hope they’re happy, and that they let the songs themselves show them how they feel. Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable, let the music move you, and let us see it.
‘Thirst’ will arrive on August 29 via Pure Noise Records.
