Slowdive break down ‘Sugar for the Pill’ on Song Exploder

The track was inspired by walking around the Cornish coastline.

Slowdive’s Neil Halstead has broken down the process behind ‘Sugar for the Pill’ for the Song Exploder podcast.

Halstead says the song has elements of his coastal Cornish home, citing its “blizzard of gulls” lyrics. He says it was written on an acoustic guitar with the delay added later and goes on to talk about how such effects have often guided the band’s songwriting process.

The singer/guitarist explains how he replaced live drums largely with electronic ones and fitted his guitar with bubble wrap as “filler” to limit feedback. He also says ‘Sugar for the Pill’ was inspired by Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, describing the song’s “wild Heathcliff quality.”