“It was quite a natural, organic thing,” Halstead says of the evolution of Slowdive mk. 2, who have now firmly shed the ‘reunion band’ tag. On their first try, they managed 7 years together before splitting; the second time around, they’re nearing a decade and still going strong. This year’s new album Everything is Alive, their most commercially successful to date, pushes their sound forwards subtly and carefully, with poppier elements sprinkled amongst their signature wave of shoegaze guitars.