MUSIC: Spiritualized

Formed out of Spaceman 3 in 1990, Spiritualized is essentially the work of one man: Jason Pierce.
Jeff Hemmings finds out more.

“I like the abstract, the distortion in music – there is always somewhere to hide in that. But I got this idea that the more abstract the music is, the more ‘Emperor’s New Clothes’, you can tell if your audience are not hip to it, or their ears aren’t tuned to it. And I figured if I made a pop record there would be nowhere to hide, it would be fully realised. I hadn’t been there before.” So says Jason Pierce about his recent album, Sweet Heart, Sweet Light; a more poppy affair than his previous six albums.

The musical style of Spiritualized relies heavily on sustained pedal notes and drones, much of the earlier work ‘shoegazing’ in style. Their landmark 1997 album, Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space (which featured a giant pill as part of the artwork) saw the emergence of blues and gospel combined with a wall of sound aesthetic. As Pierce had said at the time of Spaceman 3: “I was taking drugs to make music to take drugs to.

“When we started making music I liked the bands that sounded like the Rolling Stones, but chewed acid and kinda got it wrong,” he says, “rather than the music of the ‘70s when they tried to explain the inner workings of the mind and it kinda lost its way. It’s weird, the more pop it gets, the more psychedelic it gets. The more straight it is, the more odd it sounds.”

Heavily influenced by the garage/psychedelia bands of the late ‘60s, as well as Krautrock and the work of Phil Spector, Brian Wilson and The Beatles, Pierce’s music is also informed by recent illnesses that have threatened his existence. In 2005 he nearly died from double pneumonia, while earlier this year he had to undergo treatment for his liver.

“I found out I had long-term liver disease. My liver was pretty gone, basically.” His situation ended up working to his benefit, as he made the new album at home while undergoing treatment. “I decided to make a record on these drugs…”
Spiritualized, Corn Exchange, Brighton Dome, Tuesday 6 November, 7.30pm, £19.50