Song of the Day: Slow Club - Complete Surrender

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Morning Show with John Richards, is “Complete Surrender” by Slow Club from the 2014 album Complete Surrender on Wichita Recordings.

Slow Club - Complete Surrender (MP3)

Although they began as a simple, nearly twee indie pop duo, Slow Club have evolved into a charming, charismatic pair of R&B-influenced romantics that take full advantage of their boy-girl dynamics. When the Sheffield duo of Charles Watson and Rebecca Taylor first released their debut 7"s in 2007, their acoustic guitar arrangements and cheery dual-part harmonies led them to be labeled as an English take on the White Stripes' acoustic work, but by the release of their second album, 2011's Paradise, they'd incorporated full-band arrangements and eschewed their C86 jangle and moved towards a more traditional indie rock style. On this year's Complete Surrender, the band took another leap, using their still potent chemistry to carry an expansive, vibrant, R&B-based sound that led to the group's strongest offering yet. The title track brims with tension as Watson and Taylor trade off lyrics with equal allure ("you call me out/a true pretender/what you want/Complete Surrender"... "Can’t help but hide it from you"). Taylor's percussion provides a rolling beat that partners with smoothly staccato string arrangements, moving at an uptempo pace that climaxes at a breathless three-and-a-half minutes. Capturing the duo's knack for projecting romantic tension and elevating it to a new, brass-and-string-filled level, "Complete Surrender" is one of the album's high points not only because it crystallizes everything great about the band, but also because of the future potential that it coyly hints at.

Slow Club will be in Seattle next week at Barboza on Monday, September 29th. Get tickets and more info on that 21+ show here, keep up with the band on their website and Facebook, and watch the video for "Complete Surrender" below.