South London’s WOOM is a quartet that occupies a rare space between band and choir, their voices intertwining in ways that feel both ancient and strangely futuristic. With To Slow You, they’ve shed their early cover-song skin and stepped into a body wholly their own. This collection of original compositions arrives with the confidence of a group who’ve been quietly perfecting their language for years.
Lead single “Slow You” is a séance and a balm. Built from hypnotic looping and instinctive play, it carries the listener through haunted corridors of breathy vocal textures and harmonies, while a plaintive saxophone moves like smoke in the corners. The song wrestles with clinging fears and anxieties before offering release in its final, swelling exhale.
Earlier teaser “Circe” hinted at this shift: hypnotic, atmospheric, pulling from the same deep well as Warpaint or Mazzy Star but unmistakably WOOM in its phrasing and pacing. Elsewhere on the EP, their voices act as both lead instrument and liminal environment, “Be Brave”, “Welts”, and “The Dance” layer close harmonics and wordless hums in equal doses as they float in the air. It’s intimate music with cinematic reach, whispering in your ear.
WOOM’s songs reward stillness. Their peculiar magic repays hugely given your whole attention. To Slow You is a deepening of thought, and by turning inward, WOOM has made something expansive. They confront the restless pace of the outside world and dare to linger in the spaces between. Vulnerable and achingly human.
