On 19 June, British indie band Swim Deep released their fifth studio album Hum. Manning various genres in alternative rock and indie, the album features songs penned by front man Austin Williams and produced by Bill Ryder Jones.
Formed in 2011, the five-member ensemble has experienced member changes and many sonic shifts, from their dream pop debut in 2013 to now. Over a decade later and five albums in, their enigmatic sound has established a following in Asia’s underground scene, notably with China hiking the demand for independent UK musicians to tour across the region.
Swim Deep have performed across Asia and over the pandemic collaborated with Thai band Dept, as the British band spoke highly of the country. Prior to Hum, the group completed a sold-out Asia tour that involved four-day shows in Thailand and China, exemplifying their booming popularity.
Featuring ten songs, the album seamlessly handles alternative genres and rhythmic shifts that unpack heavy life stages and the transformations that come after it. Ranging from ‘90s acoustic grunge, to a cacophony of arpeggiated chords and riffs, front man Williams’s signature breathy vocals boosts the album to form the quintessential foundations in a Swim Deep record.
Williams sings about death and mourning in “Pieces of You”: its emotional weight added through arpeggiated chords and riffs. In “You, Me and Mary”, he addresses the pressures he faced as a new father. While the song picks up its pace, it’s still melancholic with lyrics like ‘Will I make it right for a child that I once was?’. Still, Williams’s love is palpable in his songwriting, and through the guitar riffs blanketed with drum progressions. Another standalone single, “I Keep Her Photograph With Me” is an earworm, with the title as a repeated melody on top of a hazy, psychedelic tune. The song laments about the ephemerality of memories and time, immortalised in a photograph.
“Mud”, released as a standout single for the album, is an all-encompassing song that wades through the thick emotions in a slow, grunge beat. Despite the minor chords and heavy subject matter, there’s a tinge of hope in the lyrics with barely contained adoration: ‘When you smile, the weight falls off my face’. Also evidenced in “The Throw”; despite a sludgy crescendo of drums that builds up in the chorus, its first verse questions ‘What am I supposed to do / With all this love I have for you?’. Beyond the gloomy drum progressions and potent guitar riffs, there’s a warmth in the lyrics and a light that is waiting at the end of the tunnel.
What am I supposed to do
With all this love I have for you?
‘Cause without you, what proof do I have
Of where all my love began?
It’s no surprise that they’ve accumulated such a huge following in two drastically different regions. From Birmingham to Bangkok, the band forgoes currents of trending sound for original and experimental compositions that have become a signature for Swim Deep. In, “Hum”, the nostalgia you’d get from 2010s indie rock is repurposed into something new and comfortable, without having to ease into unknown listening territory.
Hum is out on all streaming platforms. Keep up with Swim Deep here, and purchase their UK tour tickets here.
