It’s been 16 years since the Pastels have released an album, but the Glaswegian indie-poppers will doff their caps back into the ring on May 28 with Slow Summits, their fifth full-length and first for Domino. Anglophiles and twee-lovers the world over will be happy to hear the core lineup is intact: Stephen McRobbie, Katrina Mitchell, Tom Crossley, Gerard Love (Teenage Fanclub), Alison Mitchell, and John Hogarty (Telstar Ponies, National Park). Members of Ro Rococo Rot and Tenniscoats are on board to contribute, and founding member Annabel “Aggi” Wright will drop by as well. Whew.
Onto the music, the first taste of which is called “Check My Heart.” True to form, the Pastels deliver an even mix of wist and whimsy set to a bright and jangly score. Between Mitchell’s comforting oohs and aahs, McRobbie sings, “I was my own dark cloud, I was nothing with no one around / I wanted a lifetime, not just the fall in your arms.” In the corresponding video, we see children playing, records spinning and people dancing, painting a picture of Scotland that’s far more carefree than most of the country’s music. Stereogum premiered the clip, which is directed by Blair Young of the Forest of the Black.
