Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Swim Deep - 1st (Pieces Of You) & 2nd (You Me And Mary) tracks off this UK alt-rock band's new album + articles
And the articles include one from Rolling Stone UK with the band going through the album track by track.
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swim_Deep
From Rolling Stone UK 6/19/26:
Swim Deep take us through new album ‘Hum’ track-by-track
https://www.rollingstone.co.uk/music/news/swim-deep-take-us-through-new-album-hum-track-by-track-62256/
From NME 6/19/26:
Swim Deep – ‘Hum’ review: a career high full of life and love
https://www.nme.com/reviews/album/swim-deep-hum-review-3951747
From NME 2/10/26 (interview done as they were finishing recording the album):
Inside Swim Deep’s gorgeous new album ‘Hum’: “It feels like we’ve arrived at the conclusion of who we are”
https://www.nme.com/features/music-interviews/swim-deep-in-the-studio-hum-interview-3927543
I've just started listening to their music, but I like it so much I wanted to share it asap.
From the NME article that was published today:
Swim Deep’s evolution has been fascinating to watch. Since forming in 2011, the British indie band have zigged and zagged through different shades of alternative music, taking in everything from the dreamy indie-pop of 2013 debut ‘Where The Heaven Are We’ and the synth-led psych wigout of follow-up ‘Mothers’, to third album ‘Emerald Classics’’ ‘90s dance-pop leaning sounds. Another left turn landed in 2024, with ‘There’s A Big Star Outside’ – rich, warm, introspective alt-rock that twinkled and swelled.
Two years on from that last record, Swim Deep – frontman Austin “Ozzy” Williams, keyboardist James Balmont, bassist Cavan McCarthy, guitarist JJ Buchanan and drummer Thomas Fiquet – are breaking the habit of a lifetime. Instead of bounding on to the next sonic frontier, on ‘Hum’ they’ve reunited with producer Bill Ryder-Jones, who helmed ‘…Big Star…’, and buried themselves deeper in the sounds of that album.
-snip-
Lyrically, too, ‘Hum’ is a continuation of its predecessor, picking up where that record left off in the personal stories from Williams’ life. Where we last heard him preparing for impending fatherhood, he marvels at the existence of his daughter on ‘You, Me & Mary’, telling her in one beautiful, awe-stricken moment, “I won’t ever get used to you, my baby, my friend”. That sense of family – what it means to guide a child through life, the bonds we build with those we choose to go through life with, the loss of the generations before us – drives this album forward, each song full of gratitude and grace.
On the heady alt-rock of ‘Pieces Of You’, Williams contends with mortality, asking a recently departed family member what lies on the other side. “Do you walk into a place where time and space takes a break from it all?” he muses over a sparkling, soaring tapestry....
Two years on from that last record, Swim Deep – frontman Austin “Ozzy” Williams, keyboardist James Balmont, bassist Cavan McCarthy, guitarist JJ Buchanan and drummer Thomas Fiquet – are breaking the habit of a lifetime. Instead of bounding on to the next sonic frontier, on ‘Hum’ they’ve reunited with producer Bill Ryder-Jones, who helmed ‘…Big Star…’, and buried themselves deeper in the sounds of that album.
-snip-
Lyrically, too, ‘Hum’ is a continuation of its predecessor, picking up where that record left off in the personal stories from Williams’ life. Where we last heard him preparing for impending fatherhood, he marvels at the existence of his daughter on ‘You, Me & Mary’, telling her in one beautiful, awe-stricken moment, “I won’t ever get used to you, my baby, my friend”. That sense of family – what it means to guide a child through life, the bonds we build with those we choose to go through life with, the loss of the generations before us – drives this album forward, each song full of gratitude and grace.
On the heady alt-rock of ‘Pieces Of You’, Williams contends with mortality, asking a recently departed family member what lies on the other side. “Do you walk into a place where time and space takes a break from it all?” he muses over a sparkling, soaring tapestry....
4 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
Got a definite The Cure and Travis vibe going, two bands I love. I'll pop the new album up on the streamer. Thanks HPD 
Well, after I finish the new Death Cab for Cutie, which is also killer.