Slowdive were an English shoegaze band that formed in 1989. The band formed in Reading, Berkshire and primarily consisted of Nick Chaplin (bass), Rachel Goswell (vocals, guitar), Neil Halstead (vocals, guitar), and Christian Savill (guitar). Several drummers played with the band, including Ian McCutcheon, Adrian Sell, and most notably Simon Scott who drummed on the first and second albums. Halstead was the band's primary songwriter.

Goswell and Halstead had known each other since early childhood in Reading, Berkshire, when Goswell was an obsessive fan of The Smiths. Scott left in 1994 and when Savill and Chaplin left the band after the release of Pygmalion, the remaining members renamed the band Mojave 3.