Slo-Mo

Originally from Leeds, England, David Gledhill later settled in Sheffield, where he assembled the indie rock group Slo-Mo during 2001. Prior to that venture he had performed in a hard rock ensemble that never achieved success, and he devoted much of the late 1990s to attempts at infiltrating London’s music circuit. Eventually he headed back to Yorkshire and recruited Kim Woodward on bass, Tracey Wilkinson on keyboards and Liam Oliver on drums to complete the lineup. While testing a sample library on his domestic computer, Gledhill developed the core idea for the band’s breakthrough track, “Death Of A Raver.” Its stark hard-rock guitar riff paired with a vocal fragment from Brazilian singer Astrud Gilberto lent the song an unexpected emotional depth that resonated as an anthem for the post-chemical generation. The quartet issued their debut album, Lost Stones, in September 2003. Its lyrics reflected the narrative style, atmosphere and verbal precision of Hunter S. Thompson and William Burroughs, underscoring Gledhill’s perfectionist approach. Instead of wallowing in personal turmoil, the record unfolded a sequence of stories that could readily translate into a compelling road movie or stylish feature film. Gledhill’s interest in unsettling subject matter surfaced clearly on “Girl From Alaska,” which recounts an evening spent with an unstable woman intent on luring him into her basement. The same dark thread continued through “Love Hate Devotion,” depicting a volatile girlfriend assaulting her partner until the police arrive. Dave Ball of Soft Cell and the Grid reworked “Death Of A Raver” for club play. Gledhill then dissolved Slo-Mo in order to pursue a fresh endeavor simply titled Gledhill.