Swallow - Blown Swallow

One of the more enigmatic bands of the classic 4AD era, Swallow, have announced the reissue of their first two albums, Blow and Blowback, packaged together with an additional two-track single as a double LP + 12” / double CD entitled Blown, available from 5 June.

A chance for shoegaze fans to discover this forgotten gem from the 4AD catalogue, Blown is an essential but underrated body of work embracing the genre’s signature atmospheric layering of fuzzy guitar textures, accompanied by Louise Trehy’s beautiful and haunting vocals, creating hazy waves and swirls of luscious noise.

Swallow was formed by Louise Trehy and Mike Mason in London in the early 90’s, signed by Ivo Watts-Russell after receiving 4-song demo tape by post. Blow was originally released in July 1992, followed by Blowback in autumn of the same year featuring new mixes and overdubs and released as a limited CDEP that quickly fell out of print, known only to the most fervent 4AD fans. Swallow parted ways with 4AD shortly after the release of Blowback, but their brief period with the label has been outlived by this cornerstone dream-pop classic which has until now been obscured by the mists of time and memory.

With Blown, Swallow are reintroduced as an important force in the 4AD canon and the shoegaze genre, alongside their more well-known counterparts. The songs of Blown have been reconstructed from the original 24 track tape recordings and remixed. It has been freshly remastered by Anne Taegart at Dubplates & Mastering Berlin and lovingly presented in a brand-new package designed by longtime supporter Chris Bigg (v23) based on the original design by Vaughn Oliver.

Louise Trehy and Mike Mason met in early 90’s Camberwell, London. Both were deeply involved with the independent music scene of the time; Louise co-founded Setanta Records (home of The Divine Comedy, Edwyn Collins and Into Paradise with whom Mike would occasionally play), and Mike traversed between bike courier, video director, and lighting designer for Spacemen 3, Slowdive, Spiritualized, Curve and Chapterhouse. Prompted by Louise, they started writing songs together, drawing inspiration from a healthy mix of sources: CAN, noise, post-punk, and American forces of nature like Captain Beefheart and Butthole Surfers. Their first songs quickly surfaced and were recorded onto a Tascam 4-track portastudio. Louise posted the four-song demo to Ivo Watts-Russell who signed them to 4AD, sight unseen.

With the task of finishing their first record, the pair borrowed guitars from Tom Greenhalgh of the Mekons and they decamped to record at Edinburgh’s Palladium Studios and later, Blackwing in London. John Fryer was enlisted to produce (right off handling Nine Inch Nails’ 1989 record Pretty Hate Machine), utilizing Eventide Harmonizers (a Cocteau Twins staple) to provide the band’s lush, ethereal dazzle.

Blow would be released in July of 1992, and arrived in a sleeve designed by Vaughan Oliver (v23). Subsequently, they did a handful of support gigs with Bob Mould’s post-Hüsker Dü project Sugar and American shoegaze peers Medicine to promote the album across the UK. Contemporary reviews of Blow would unimaginatively make much of the 4AD and Cocteau’s connections. But with the music press’ attention later shifted to the Nirvana explosion of underground American bands, it was difficult for the album to get much attention.

Though, in the end, the band found the finished album different than they imagined it would sound. Feeling as though their initial ideas had been lost in the production, they petitioned Ivo to re-record parts of the album; he suggested they remix the tracks as they wished, instead. New mixes and overdubs resulted in dissonant and ambient versions closer to the band’s intentions, released as Blowback in the autumn of 1992. Sadly, expectations, hopes, and shifting priorities from both Ivo and the band led to Swallow’s departure from 4AD shortly after the release of Blowback.

Swallow pressed on and were invited to play a ten date UK tour with Mazzy Star. It was Mazzy Star who recommended Geoff Travis sign the band to his label Rough Trade in late 1993. Mike and Louise’s only release for the label was the 1994 Hush EP — recorded at home and more stripped back than the band’s previous releases, the release allowed the songs to stand ahead of their production for the first time. The full Hush session recordings would ultimately be released digitally in 2009.

Unable to gain any traction from Hush at the time, Swallow would come to an end later that year, with the dissolution of Mike and Louise’s relationship. Unexpectedly, though, 1995 would see The Chemical Brothers sampling the Blow tracks ‘Peekaboo’ and ‘Follow Me Down’ on ‘One Too Many Mornings’, taken off their massively successful debut LP Exit Planet Dust. This brought new ears and royalties, both happily welcomed. For the next 30 years, Swallow would enjoy a cult following among only the most dedicated shoegaze fans and 4AD obsessives.