If It's New To Me, It May Be New to You: Swim Deep's 2013 Debut, 'Where The Heaven Are We’

Let's try a new series for Check This Out! in which I feature reader suggested records!

I’ve featured a handful of new dream-pop releases during the early part of this year, and you, the reader, are letting me know how much you’re enjoying the albums, culminating with this week’s review for Yumi Zouma’s latest, Present Tense.

A few days ago, I talked with a fellow writing friend and new Yumi Zouma fan, Karl Blakesley of New Music Weekly (give him a follow for great UK scene finds each Friday). Noting dream-pop bands, he mentioned Swim Deep’s new EP, Familiarise Yourself with Your Closest Exit. It’s a blissed-out set that finds the Birmingham band bringing in a host of female guest collaborators - “On the Floor” features Phoebe Green and successfully apes 90s alternative while still being authentic, and “Big Green Apple,” which features singer Austin Williams’s fiancé, Nell, is an aural treat thanks to James Balmont’s fuzzed-out synths and Cavan McCarthy’s phat bass riffs (read Karl’s full review here).

While Swim Deep’s 2019 effort Emerald Classics was my introduction to the band, thanks to it making some noise stateside upon release, I completely missed their debut, Where the Heaven Are We. At Karl’s suggestion, I’ve listened to the record a handful of times this week, and can’t believe it wasn’t on my radar, as it checks a lot of the boxes I was into almost a decade ago.

This gave me an idea: why not ask readers for record suggestions and feature those submissions? Every week, I love digging up the nuggets, but I also love a good surprise from a reader’s recommendation!

So, if you have a record you think I’ll be into, let me know which one and why you’re such a fan of the album or band. Leave a comment, DM me on Twitter or Instagram (@kilarzleesen), or email me at kiley@checkthisoutreviews.com. One Friday a month, I’ll post a review with your suggestions!

Give me something tasty. I’m ready!

Before the release of Where the Heaven Are We, Swim Deep dropped their first single, “King City,” and revisiting this song almost ten years later, it’s easy to see why it was such a massive hit in the UK. Charlie Hugall produced the debut album, and it’s worth noting he was also behind the boards for Florence and the Machine’s megahit records Lungs and How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful. Combine this with the indie-pop band’s undeniable hooks on “Honey” and “She Changes the Weather,” and you’ve got an indie-pop stew going. I’m also into the back half of this record, especially “Red Lips I Know” and the grooving “Soul Trippin.”

The biggest takeaway from listening to Where the Heaven Are We so many years after its release is the reaffirmation of how quickly indie-pop bands went from lifting from the 80s to exploring the 90s. Some do it better than others.

As much as I love this early iteration of Swim Deep, I can say I still find Emerald Classics more diverse and exciting, and the new EP has me looking forward to where this crew heads next.

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