Songs in A&E

There’s always been something enchanting about the Spaceman and Spiritualized, near death experiences and addiction will always make people curious. Hopefully when these curiosities have been satisfied people will realise that music like this is something to be appreciated for all the right reasons, and not for the darker tales commonly put to print.

Songs in A&E was work in progress prior to Jason Pearce’s unfortunate battle against pneumonia and is another wrenching set of tunes that isn’t anything un-associated with work in past. The opening strings to this record paint a picture from the off and the choir of “Sweet Talk” settle you into this uplifting record perfectly. “Death take your fiddle” with its “respiratory wheeze” sounds like a death bed moment but lyrics such as “morphine, codeine, whisky they wont alter, they way I feel like now death is not around” tell quite a different tale. The uplifting “Soul on fire” is a moment of pure Spaceman genius and takes a real lead on the album, one created by “Stop your Crying” on “Amazing Grace”. The instrumental harmonies that bind this record are nothing short of exceptional and mostly appear to be a reflection on his recent struggle. Lyrically these are penned tracks of depth but the overall feel of this record is uplifting and sublime.

“I gotta a fire” is another upbeat rocky interlude found familiar on albums like “Amazing Grace”. Like I mentioned, there’s no new ground broken here but I must say I’m more than please to hear another “Spiritualized” record. The strings on “Sitting on Fire” are perfect and shattered by the growl and distorted rant of “You lie you cheat” amazingly. There’s many a moment on this record and it’s taken me few listens but in the end I’ve realised its beautiful record. Pearce has always worn his heart on his album covers and this is no exception.

A much welcomed return from the Spaceman and friends.

words by Neil