Neil Halstead, guitarist and primary song-writer of legendary shoegaze outfit Slowdive will be playing a solo concert organised by HairyAmp Promotions.

Neil has been hailed by AllMusic as “one of Britain’s most respected songwriters” with Time Out magazine describing him as “one of Britain’s greatest songwriters”. The musician has earned an ardent following by making intensely atmospheric music with a near-hypnotic power during his time with Slowdive (whose seminal studio albums include 1993’s Souvlaki, co-produced by Brian Eno).

After the band’s breakup in 1995, Slowdive morphed into the Halstead-helmed Mojave 3 and released a string of highly celebrated records that merged jangly alt-country with dusky psychedelic dream-pop.

In 2006 Mojave 3 went on indefinite hiatus, prompting Neil to embark on an acoustic-driven solo career marked by an emphasis on British-folk-inspired melody and a love of surfing. An occasional drift into more whimsical territory prompted NME to describe him as being “like Syd Barrett if he’d ever set foot on a surf board”.

Neil’s first solo album, Sleeping on Roads, was followed by 2008’s Oh! Mighty Engine, released on friend and fellow surfer Jack Johnson‘s ‘Brushfire’ label. Neil’s latest album Palindrome Hunches was released in 2012 and was labelled as “an exquisite set of dark folk music”. It was also well-acclaimed by God is in the TV as “undoubtedly one of the finest British records released this year”.

In 2014, Primavera Sound Festival asked Slowdive to reform after an almost 20 year hiatus and they haven’t looked back since. The band has not stopped touring and playing festival dates and has also returned to the studio to record a new album.

Neil managed to merge all this with playing guitar on tour with Mark Kozelek’s Sun Kil Moon and even playing some solo shows.

Ethereal local folk outfit Stalko, currently recording their second album, also grace the stage on the night.

Neil Halstead performs on October 2 at the Salesians Theatre, Sliema. Tickets are available online or at the door.

www.ticketline.com.mt

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