While Ride frontmen Andy Bell and Mark Gardener self-evidently had easier and quicker routes to pursue solo and side musical projects, before and after the quartet’s reunion, Steve Queralt nevertheless had more to express beyond his redoubtable bassist role, given some time and the opportunity. Therefore, having tested the extra-curricular waters on a duo release with writer and film-maker Michael Smith, in the shape of 2023’s Sun Moon Town EP for the electronica-centric Bytes label, he finally delivers a full-length solo debut with Swallow, via Sonic Cathedral.
On the remaining gathered tracks, Queralt still more than sustains the interest, through deploying his multi-instrumentalist nous into richly sculpted set-pieces. Thus, we’re taken through the lush languidity of the opening “Mission Creep”; the spaced apart Mogwai Young Team-infused triumvirate of “High Teens”, “A Porsche Shaped Hole” and “1988”; the gentle-to-roiling sprawl of the self-deprecatingly titled “I Don’t Know How To Sing”; and a glistening yet dystopic sci-fi score in search of a corresponding film that is the closing “Motor Boats”.
Although the enigmatic attractions of Swallow do require a fair bit of listening to fully present themselves, the record proves that the brain behind the iconic bassline of Ride’s classic “Leave Them All Behind” was right to also explore avenues outside the fraternal band unit.-Adrian-
