" Giant Peach " is a song by British alternative rock band Wolf Alice . The song was released on 24 February 2015 as the lead single from their debut album My Love Is Cool via Dirty Hit .
34-538: The song was released on 24 February alongside the announcement of the band's debut album My Love Is Cool . Vocalist Ellie Rowsell stated that the song was about growing up in London and is about "a love affair with the city." The title of the song is a reference to Roald Dahl 's book James and the Giant Peach . Rowsell described the song as "a song to dance to, but also a song to lose your shit to." The song
68-462: A "blurry, blissful sound", and credits the influence of the "ethereal soundscapes" of Cocteau Twins as well as more distorted styles of American alternative rock . In the 1990s, "dream pop" and "shoegazing" were interchangeable and regionally dependent terms, with "dream pop" being the name by which "shoegazing" was typically known in America. AllMusic describes the dream pop label as covering both
102-517: A "crucial document" of the dream pop movement, commenting that the group "aimed to emulate an ethereality that could just as easily become nightmarish", resulting in music that feels "just out of reach." Their "dreampop" label was subsequently adopted by music critic Simon Reynolds to describe that group and later extended to the nascent shoegazing scene in the UK. Reynolds describes the movement as "a wave of hazy neo-psychedelic groups" characterised by
136-600: A Germ ". The song " Moaning Lisa Smile ", which originally appeared on the band's 2014 EP Creature Songs , peaked at number nine on the US Billboard Alternative Songs chart, and was also included on the US edition of the album. While not a single, the song "Silk" appeared on the soundtrack of T2 Trainspotting , peaking at number 39 on the Scottish charts in 2017. The album was nominated for
170-416: A debut as you could hope to hear, a fresh injection of pure brilliance and beauty to a genre that is creaking under the weight of mediocrity and a lack of adventurous inventiveness." AllMusic critic Heather Phares stated that "even if My Love Is Cool sacrifices some of Wolf Alice's earlier fury, the album is all the stronger for it." Neil McCormick of The Telegraph wrote, "They don't quite sound like
204-418: A dream pop sound specific to "the glitzy decay that is L.A.", according to Pitchfork ; that publication called the album a "dream pop classic". The late 1980s dream pop of A.R. Kane and My Bloody Valentine influenced 1990s acts such as Seefeel and Insides , who began incorporating elements such as samples and sequenced rhythms. Ambient pop music is described by AllMusic as "essentially an extension of
238-493: A progenitor of the genre, while stating that its Spector-produced parent album All Things Must Pass influenced "many guitar-driven, echo-drenched bands have come around since, mixing powerful rave-ups with moody, reflective down-tempo numbers and a spiritual bent. A.J. Ramirez of PopMatters recognises an evolutionary line from gothic rock to dream pop. The early 1980s gothic-derived " ethereal wave " subgenre, with its effects -laden guitar sounds and female vocals, led to
272-488: A response to the cultural landscape of the UK during the 1980s: "After 12 years of Conservative government in Britain, any idealism or constructive political involvement seems futile to these alienated middle-class dropouts." Similarly, according to Rachel Felder, dream pop artists often resist representations of social reality in favour of ambiguous or hallucinogenic experiences. Author Nathan Wiseman-Trowse writes that
306-523: A wall of noise." The music tends to focus on textures rather than propulsive rock riffs. Effects such as reverb and echo are ubiquitous, with tremolo and chorus also heard on recordings. Lyrics are often introspective or existential in nature, but may be difficult to hear or incomprehensible in the mix. In the view of critic Simon Reynolds , dream pop "celebrates rapturous and transcendent experiences, often using druggy and mystical imagery". In 1991, he suggested this escapist tendency might be
340-519: The "approach to the sheer physicality of sound" integral to dream pop was "arguably pioneered in popular music by figures such as Phil Spector and ( Beach Boys founder) Brian Wilson ." The Beach Boys recorded an early dream pop song, " All I Wanna Do ", for their 1970 album Sunflower . Critic Jim Allen, who cites the Beach Boys as the "godfathers" of the style, says that the song's unprecedented "cinematic dream sequence" production style marks
374-461: The "loud, shimmering feedback" of My Bloody Valentine and the "post-Velvet Underground guitar rock" of Galaxie 500 . My Bloody Valentine showcased a unique dream pop sound on their 1988 debut album Isn't Anything , with guitarist Kevin Shields employing a tremolo-arm technique in order to produce "an amorphous drone, at once visceral and disembodied". Galaxie 500 provided a "cornerstone" of
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#1732775586977408-491: The 2015 Mercury Music Prize . On 19 August 2016, My Love Is Cool was reissued as a limited-edition box set , containing a 12-inch double gatefold vinyl of the album, 10-inch vinyl copies of the Blush and Creature Songs EPs, and a bonus CD of demos, B-sides and rarities. My Love Is Cool received positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics,
442-560: The 7" vinyl release My Love Is Cool My Love Is Cool is the debut studio album by English alternative rock band Wolf Alice . It was released on 22 June 2015 in the United Kingdom by Dirty Hit and on 23 June 2015 in the United States by RCA Records . The album includes the previously released singles " Bros " and " Fluffy " in re-recorded versions, and was preceded by the songs " Giant Peach " and " You're
476-625: The Box " by Alice in Chains , " Low " by Cracker and " Sleep Now in the Fire " by Rage Against the Machine on their list of additions on April 13, 2016. The song was included on season 2, episode 1 of The Royals . It was also on the soundtrack for the 2016 movie Detour . Scottish craft brewery Overtone Brewing Co brewed a peach sour named after the song. Credits adapted from the liner notes of
510-508: The Durutti Column "embodied the cliché of the suicidal dream-pop guitarist in the mid-1980s" with his "narcotic performances" presaging later acts such as My Bloody Valentine and Galaxie 500 . The Dif Juz album Extractions (1985) would expand the dream pop sound, incorporating saxophone, shifting tonalities, and off-kilter rhythms. Film director David Lynch , unable to obtain the rights to This Mortal Coil's version of "Song to
544-535: The Siren" for his 1986 film Blue Velvet , enlisted composer Angelo Badalamenti and singer Julee Cruise to record a replacement track. The result was "Mysteries of Love", described by Rolling Stone as a significant development of the dream pop sound which "gave the genre its synthy sheen". The trio of Cruise, Lynch and Badalamenti later recorded the 1989 album Floating into the Night , which further elaborated on
578-631: The UK-based 4AD. According to Paste , the band crystallized their "swelling, euphoric" dream pop sound on the 1984 album Treasure , with guitarist Robin Guthrie conjuring an array of "woozy textures from his arsenal of effects pedals." The 1984 album It'll End in Tears by 4AD's "dream-pop supergroup" This Mortal Coil was conceived by label head Ivo Watts-Russell and featured members of Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance . The album helped "set
612-404: The album musically as "grungy, dream-pop ." Stephen Ackroyd of DIY praised the album, saying " My Love Is Cool isn't simply a great debut. It's not just a great album full stop. It's, in no uncertain terms, a remarkable one. The furthest from route one they could ever get, Wolf Alice aren't just sure of who they are; they own it." MusicOMH ' s Graeme Marsh said the album is "as good
646-564: The album received an average score of 78, based on 21 reviews, indicating generally favorable reviews. Harriet Gibsone of The Guardian called the album "familiar but invigorating indie-rock ", further stating: "while the foundations of My Love Is Cool are 90s/00s shoegaze and grunge , the London quartet defibrillate their influences with the ambition of youth. It also feels like an album that's been allowed time to gestate: despite being virtually veteran in buzzband terms, they have benefited from beefing up their sound on tour – as evidenced on
680-488: The dream pop and shoegaze scenes; it was represented by Cocteau Twins and labels such as 4AD and Projekt Records . Rolling Stone describes "modern dream pop" as originating with the early 1980s work of Cocteau Twins and their contemporaries. AllMusic 's Jason Ankeny credits the Cocteau Twins' "distinctly ethereal" sound and singer Elizabeth Fraser 's operatic, indecipherable vocals with defining their label,
714-451: The dream pop that emerged in the wake of the shoegazer movement", distinct for its incorporation of electronic textures and techniques such as sampling . Bowery Electric 's 1996 album Beat was described by Long Live Vinyl as an important touchstone of both dream pop and trip hop . The 2007 album Person Pitch by Panda Bear combined Beach Boys-influenced dream pop with modern sampledelic techniques, winning acclaim and exerting
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#1732775586977748-500: The finished article, but there is a virtuous sense of their trying to make music in service of something profound." Pitchfork ' s Laura Snapes stated: "The confident diversity of My Love Is Cool indicates a band who have their own thing all figured out, who shouldn't veer from their own strange path to live up to outdated narratives that dictate what a young British band should be." All tracks are written by Ellie Rowsell, Joff Oddie, Theo Ellis and Joel Amey Credits adapted from
782-409: The genre emphasizes mood and sonics over lyrics, so that "chords and tracks blur seamlessly into one another so frequently that it can be difficult to even decipher when one song ended and another has begun." Common characteristics are breathy vocals, the use of guitar effects, and a densely produced sound, with "nebulous, distorted guitars" paired with "murmured vocals sometimes completely smudged into
816-403: The genre in their 1989 album On Fire , with their downtempo, reverb -laden sound becoming influential. UK bands acts as A.R. Kane, My Bloody Valentine and Ride played an influential role in the development of the movement. Other prominent acts to emerge from the movement include Slowdive and Chapterhouse . The 1990 Cocteau Twins album Heaven or Las Vegas proved an iconic release in
850-404: The genre. Spin credited My Bloody Valentine's "landmark" 1991 album Loveless with "crystalizing (and obliterating) the genres of dream pop and shoegaze guitar rock." The UK band Lush became an influential act in the genre during the 1990s, with Robin Guthrie producing their 1992 debut album Spooky . The 1993 album So Tonight That I Might See by American band Mazzy Star reflected
884-478: The heavy romance of 'Your Loves Whore', the dirty degenerate chug of 'You're a Germ', or the cinematic 'Turn to Dust'. The awkward introversion in the lyrics – which deal with relationship strife, creepy blokes, friendship, gender and the quest for eternal love – add a sense of emotional overload driven by late nights, blood pacts and wide-eyed wonder. It's an invigorating debut with a gaunt, gallant identity of its own." Harriet Gibsone, also of The Guardian , described
918-424: The liner notes of My Love Is Cool . Dream pop Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop ) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such as reverb , echo , tremolo , and chorus . It often overlaps with the related genre of shoegaze , and
952-546: The point "where the dream pop family tree starts to come into focus." However, the Beach Boys' impact on the genre was not widely acknowledged until after the 2000s. The 1960s work of the Byrds would influence the "swoony harmonies" of later British dream pop groups. The music of the Velvet Underground in the 1960s and 1970s, which experimented with repetition, tone and texture over conventional song structure,
986-543: The style and featured the Twin Peaks theme and UK top 10 single " Falling ". The term "dreampop" was coined in the late 1980s by Alex Ayuli of A.R. Kane to describe his band's eclectic sound, which blended effects-laden guitar with dub production and drum machine backing, among other elements. The group released their 1987 EP Lollita on 4AD, with production by Cocteau Twins guitarist Robin Guthrie. Pitchfork describes their debut album Sixty Nine (1988) as
1020-417: The style. It saw renewed popularity among millennial listeners following the late-2000s success of acts such as Beach House . The term dream pop is thought to relate to the "immersion" in the music experienced by the listener. The AllMusic Guide to Electronica (2003) defined dream pop as "an atmospheric subgenre of alternative rock that relies on sonic textures as much as melody". According to Paste ,
1054-637: The template for dream pop" and associated the formerly gothic-affiliated UK label with the style. The album's 1983 single, the Tim Buckley cover " Song to the Siren ", became an influential work in the genre, and saw success in the UK Indie Chart , remaining there consistently for two years. Other early acts to touch on the style included Lori and the Chameleons , Dif Juz , and the Durutti Column . According to Pitchfork , Vini Reilly of
Giant Peach - Misplaced Pages Continue
1088-416: The two genre terms have at times been used interchangeably. The genre came into prominence in the 1980s through groups associated with the UK label 4AD , most prominently Cocteau Twins , This Mortal Coil , and A.R. Kane . Subsequently, UK-based acts such as My Bloody Valentine , Slowdive , and Lush alongside US-based artists Galaxie 500 , Julee Cruise , and Mazzy Star released significant albums in
1122-433: Was also an important touchstone in the genre's development. Their 1967 debut The Velvet Underground & Nico incorporated what music critic Marc Beamount terms " psychedelic dream pop" in addition to a variety of other styles. Elements of dream pop could also be found in Velvet Underground songs such as " Candy Says " (1969). Music journalist John Bergstrom recognises George Harrison 's 1970 track " Let It Down " as
1156-634: Was premiered by Zane Lowe as the Hottest Record in the World on his BBC Radio 1 show. The song won the Best Track Award at the 2016 NME Awards . The song's mockumentary -style music video features a performance by actor Tony Gardner , as a manager, and a cameo appearance by actor Ewen MacIntosh . The song was included on Guitar Hero Live 's GHTV mode alongside " Love Me " by The 1975 , " Delete " by DMA's , " Man in
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