Jason Pierce (who, for the uninitiated, is Spiritualized) has always been struggling to reach the heights of the work he produced as part of Spacemen 3 – the influential ‘80s psych rock frontrunner. It could be argued that their brand of minimalist drug music prefigured the chillwave scene before synths became a feature of budding artists’ bedsits. Mix that with just a hint of The Velvet Underground’s ‘Heroin’ and you have an idea of what they sounded like.
After Peter Kember and Jason Pierce decided to go their separate ways, few have never felt that the promise they showed as a double act has been fulfilled. Spectrum always felt too straightforward, and Spiritualized just tried too hard (packaging albums as if they are prescription meds).
Sweet Heart Sweet Light may begin to lay these foolish fears to rest. Despite near-death experiences, being slightly too old to be a drug musician, and attempting to name the album ‘Huh?’, Jason Pierce is back on top. The intro is classic Spiritualized, a gentle build, dropping off towards an uncertain conclusion. The brief second’s silence in between this drop and the chugging guitars of ‘Hey Jane’ (a nine minute belter) was the most nerve-wracking moment in the album – a wrong move could have toppled the whole thing.
Pierce is, however, an old hand. Moments of delicate emotion, such as ‘Freedom’ are handled equally as competently as lighters-aloft choruses such as ‘So Long You Pretty Thing’. Lyrics were never Pierce’s strong point, and the pubescent ruminations on death in ‘Little Girl’ can be a little grating, but the orchestration is fantastic. Even when tracks trail off into discords and thrashing, it works.
Spiritualized is no longer trying too hard to regain the cool he once possessed. Pierce has it under control.
FOUR (AND A HALF) STARS
