Slowdive

Is the name of Hiram Green's latest all-natural stunner a reference to Slowdive, the seminal UK shoegaze band who recently made a triumphant return to recording after a two-decade absence? The perfumer's notes are vague, referencing only "the mood of those languid afternoons when the sweetness of the Indian summer air is almost palpable." But it's not like those two concepts are unrelated- after all, the best shoegaze music is a lot like that feeling Green describes- an intense, steady hum of warmth and light, almost embryonic in its soothing envelopment. This is the feeling of Slowdive, a richly honeyed bouquet of potent white florals, hazily syrupy and mouthwateringly sweet, with a spicy-floral tobacco blossom featured at the center. The result is a gloriously but carefully balanced overdrive of olfactive noise, a fuzz of ambered, resinous fruits, lush, narcotic florals and invigorating spice, and the newest example of Hiram Green's remarkable ability to make disarmingly complex natural fragrances without limitation. While the connection between fragrance and band remains (appropriately) blurry, we can't help but feel that they'd approve.