Weekly Release Spotlight: Spiritualized
Posted on 5/26/2008
Spiritualized
Songs in A & E
[Sanctuary]
It's curious to notice when fans, critics, and the general music listening public choose to refer to the man behind the now legendary Spiritualized as Jason Spaceman or Jason Pierce. The sillier moniker stems from his involvement in the influential drone-rock/shoegaze outfit Spacemen 3, but since that band's rocky break-up and the formation of his new project, everyone has taken it upon themselves to decide when to call Jason by his original stage name versus his birth name. In 2008, most are unequivocally talking about the sixth studio Spiritualized album, the orchestrally lush and sprawling Songs in A & E, in terms of Jason Pierce's new effort, leaving "J. Spaceman" confined to the liner notes of the disc.
There are a few possible explanations for this: perhaps it's due to the exponentially decreasing science-fiction elements in Pierce's music (he has since replaced erratic guitar phasing with crisp blues guitar crunches and airport ambient swirls with graceful string swells). Or perhaps it's due to Pierce's recent near-death battle with double pneumonia, which interrupted his lengthy writing/recording process for A & E with hospital stays and almost surely gave him a new perspective on every aspect of life, including his own music. These songs certainly sound like they come from a man who's been through a lot, and whether he's ditching the sonic mayhem that put him on the map for conscious or unconscious reasons, one thing is certain: these are songs from a man who has been to space and back, but at heart, is still an earthly being.
Conveniently enough, the weathered, rootsy feel of the majority of these tracks also have more of a tangible story behind them than what could be explained by life experiences or musical evolution. Upon his recovery, Pierce stumbled across a 1929 acoustic Gibson in Cincinnati that very simply called his name. Utilizing this guitar as A & E's backbone, Pierce's usual sprinkling of bells and whistles on songs like "The Waves Crash In" or the cathartic "Soul on Fire" enhance the intimacy and warmth of the songs rather than transforming the album into a turgid affair. Even rockers like "You Lie You Cheat" or "I Gotta Fire" sound birthed from a place of life affirmation and acceptance, simply of the more rousing variety. No matter where Pierce decides to take the lister during A & E, even throughout the miniature instrumental interludes, his human energy and experience drenches every note, and both musician and music lover feel all the more satisfied because of it.
Stream: Spiritualized - Soul On Fire
Radio K PresentsSpiritualized at the First Avenue Mainroom on Wednesday, September 10, 2008.
Written by Chris Polley, Radio K volunteer and host of Now Like Photographs.