{"id":865797,"date":"2026-09-30T11:22:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T11:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/865797\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T11:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T11:22:09","slug":"the-slow-countrys-wholesome-alt-folk-is-a-good-time-guaranteed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/865797\/","title":{"rendered":"The Slow Country\u2019s wholesome alt-folk is a good time, guaranteed"},"content":{"rendered":"

It might not feel like it when you\u2019re going through it, but heartbreak often leads to exciting new beginnings. Just ask alt-folk rabble The Slow Country<\/a>, who were born from the ashes of two breakups and since then have been slowly evolving into a genuinely thrilling prospect in British music. Armed with seven members, less conventional indie band instruments like an accordion and a violin, and songwriting as evocative as it is rousing, this group\u2019s expansive, joy-filled music is seemingly impossible to have a bad time to. They even, as one song in their live set makes clear, make being \u201cfundamentally fucked\u201d sound like the time of your life.<\/p>\n

The path to their jubilant sound started from something more sorrowful. Old friends Joe Darley (vocals\/guitar) and Charlie Smith (vocals\/guitar) both went through relationships ending around the same time. \u201cIt was breakup season,\u201d Darley smiles, sitting next to bassist Finnbar Simmonds in the fragrant lobby of London\u2019s The Standard hotel on a grey September afternoon. \u201cWe were in a punk band called Paris Syndrome in uni \u2013 I\u2019m not sure we ever played a gig; we just liked taking our tops off in practice \u2013 but Charlie was the one in the band I was most aligned to as a friend, and musically, so we always had a mind to do something.\u201d<\/p>\n

Working on material together was \u201cquite exciting\u201d, with the pair tapping into \u201creally earnest songwriting\u201d. Soon, they started filling the roles that would turn the exercise into an actual band, turning to some of their closest friends (Simmonds; Ben Court on drums and vocals; Gina Edwards on keys, accordion and vocals), as well as Darley\u2019s brother James on guitar. The final signing, violinist Miren Summers, was recruited at Manchester venue The Talleyrand. \u201cIt was one of those gigs where we supported a band, and the crowd for us was the headline act plus Miren, who was mates with them,\u201d recalls Simmonds. \u201cThen for the headline act, it was us plus Miren.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since then, it\u2019s taken them a while to figure out how they want to sound. They deliberately held off releasing music for two years after forming, finally sharing their debut single \u2018Walking Song\u2019 in 2024 following a concerted period of development in rehearsals and on stage. \u201cOur first live shows were such a mental mix of heavy riff stuff, like this one called \u2018This Is Going To Hurt\u2019 and another called \u2018Toadzilla\u2019, mixed in with Charlie doing a really slow acoustic one,\u201d their bassist shares. \u201cIt was just absolute whiplash.\u201d But Darley and Smith decided the bones of The Slow Country in an early manifesto. \u201c[It\u2019s about] throwing the kitchen sink in, sonically,\u201d Darley laughs. \u201cI like the maximalism of having every instrument there and finding pockets of melody, and being quite texture-rich.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Now, that directive has advanced to include their live presence, which has helped build a word-of-mouth buzz around their gigs. \u201cMy favourite thing is people saying that it\u2019s the most wholesome thing they\u2019ve seen as a live band, and watching us all just have fun and laugh on stage is really healing for them,\u201d says Simmonds. \u201cIt\u2019s something I really love to lean into.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really sick of bands who think they\u2019re too cool for school \u2013 bands who are on stage just rolling their eyes, pouting a little bit, just being stoic,\u201d picks up Darley. \u201cI really, really love just reflecting how much fun it is to be on stage, because it is such a joy and a pleasure.\u201d<\/p>\n

That feeling is palpable in The Slow Country\u2019s shows \u2013 performances that take you out of yourself and away from your problems, and into an exuberant escape that\u2019s coloured with the epic cinema of early Arcade Fire<\/a>, the ramshackle twang of The Nude Party<\/a>, and the layered beauty of Big Thief<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no wonder they proved to be a sleeper hit at festivals like Truck and Green Man this summer, playing to fields and tents not just full of people, but people actively listening, enjoying and responding to their sets. \u201cWe\u2019ve been plugging away at this for a very long time, and this year has been really exciting and kind of explosive,\u201d Darley assesses. \u201cIt\u2019s been a vindication of a lot of hard work that\u2019s been leading up to this moment, but it\u2019s still surreal to walk out on stage and have it be a full tent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy favourite thing is people saying watching us all just have fun and laugh on stage is really healing for them\u201d \u2013 Finnbar Simmonds<\/p>\n

Being an emerging artist in 2026 is tough for anyone, but things are a little more complicated for The Slow Country. Not only do they have seven members hoping to one day make a living off this (\u201cWe\u2019re operating at a net loss,\u201d Darley quips. \u201cWe\u2019ll get there\u201d), they\u2019re also split between Manchester, where they formed, and London. Where other bands can get together multiple times a week to rehearse, the septet gather once a fortnight for intense eight-hour practice sessions, where they play through material and work on new songs. \u201cIt really feeds into that chaotic \u2018band all together in one place\u2019 feeling,\u201d Simmonds explains. \u201cNo sunlight, people stopping you from going for a cig break\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the time you hit hour number six, the delirium becomes quite beautiful; it becomes quite creative,\u201d his bandmate chimes in. And before that? Simmonds shakes his head: \u201cOh, it\u2019s worthless, everyone shouting and [getting] really angry at each other if you play something wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

When they can hit the rehearsal room together, they all pitch in with writing, bringing in new ideas or songs they\u2019ve passed between each other online \u201clike remote work\u201d. Despite their material coming from seven individual minds and their unique experiences, often the musicians find they\u2019re drawn to writing about similar themes. On \u2018Right There Inside\u2019, they explore staying present rather than succumbing to the comforting lure of nostalgia, while \u2018Amy Stew\u2019 is a breakup song that taps into the small moments in life that call you back to someone (\u201cOh, I missed you \/ In the traffic to another boring day\u201d). \u201cWe\u2019re very similar people, so I think those themes do come up, and it helps to keep things in The Slow Country world,\u201d Darley reasons. \u201cWe\u2019re all very anxious!\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the last year, the band have added another musical companion to their troupe, with acclaimed musician Bill Ryder-Jones<\/a> producing \u2018Firing Line\u2019, \u2018In The Mud\u2019 and their upcoming music, helping them capture the true scope of their sound on record. \u201cI remember a few years ago Charlie saying to my dad that the dream would be to have Bill producing,\u201d Simmonds smiles. Working with him has lived up to their expectations: \u201cWatching him record vocals is a really sweet thing because he\u2019s aware of how tender that can be. He will be very nurturing, but he\u2019s also got the viewpoint of \u2018if I like the sound of it, then great \u2013 it doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s perfect, as long as the feeling and energy are where they should be\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Slow Country. Credit: @heartsh6kr<\/p>\n

You couldn\u2019t accuse The Slow Country\u2019s latest single of being short on either feeling or energy. \u2018Through Your Teeth\u2019 captures the eruption of emotions after bottling things up, Smith narrating, \u201cCame out of your heart, straight into your veins \/ Up through your lungs and into your brain \/ Over your tongue, straight through your teeth \/ Does it matter to you? You know it matters to me\u201d. Beneath, his bandmates\u2019 instruments gradually build, the pressure rising and rising until it bursts in one big release: \u201cYou know it matters!\u201d \u201cThe way it comes from within, it brews up and explodes out of you,\u201d Darley says. \u201cIt continues to build on the frustration of not communicating properly into a big outcry.\u201d<\/p>\n

While we wait for more music to be unveiled, the band will continue to put smiles on the faces of unsuspecting gig-goers (and a growing legion of converts) with a mass of live shows in the coming months, including their current run supporting Swim Deep<\/a> and a November outing with Gently Tender<\/a>. Further along the horizon, the band are already thinking about their debut album. \u201cI think doing an album together would be so fun,\u201d says Simmonds. \u201cTo be able to think of real themes, write songs around that and bring it all together.\u201d It might be early days, but there\u2019s one thing he knows for certain: \u201c\u2018Toadzilla\u2019 will not make the cut.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Slow Country\u2019s \u2018Through Your Teeth\u2019 is out now via Heist Or Hit.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It might not feel like it when you\u2019re going through it, but heartbreak often leads to exciting new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":865798,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[16126,88,61764,16127,216],"class_list":["post-865797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-alternative","tag-entertainment","tag-folk","tag-indie","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=865797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/865798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}