Spiritualized "Sweet Heart Sweet Light" - first listen

Jason Pearce' Spiritualized have a new album out in a weeks time. It will be the first album since 2008's "Songs In A&E" which was recorded while Pearce was receiving chemotherapy for degenerative liver disease. This was after he had spent a long stint in hospital in 2005 after suffering double pneumonia. His emotional and physical state was there to hear, his pain came across which had most people thinking that this was indeed the end.
However, in 2010 Pearce returned by playing his classic 1997 cut "ladies & gentleman We Are Floating In Space" in its entirety on a UK & US mini tour.
It was around this time he began work on "Sweet Heart Sweet Light".
Never someone to stray away from the influence his drug habit/s have on his life and art, his music has always been a mixture of overwhelming joy and eternal doom with a running theme of embracing and rejecting faith and jesus christ. This album is no different, but now that Pearce finds himself in a much healthier place, the end result is something quite different to what many may of expected...
You can listen to the album HERE

Hey Jane - A simple but massive Rock'n'Roll tune clocking in at 9 minutes. It comes to a close after 4, but then rouses again into full throttle exciting chanting, not to dissimilar to Blurs "Tender".

Little Girl - Pearces singing sounds stronger than on previous album "Songs in A&E". You know when the changes are coming in this one. It sounds like a Richard Ashcroft song, not a Verve song, an Ashcroft one (which is either a good thing or really really bad!).

Get What You Deserve - Well so far it would appear that Pearce is in a more positive place than he was a few years ago. The same underlying current of doom remains, but the huge drums and strings that were so prominent in his earlier Spiritualized work is back. Not one acoustic number yet. This is more of a slow burner than the opening 2 tracks and climaxes with outrageous feedback and swirling distortion leading us into track 4....

Too Late - ...Which is the first slow number we have. Very similar melody to Lord Let It rain on me from "Amazing Grace". VERY similar. A bit to close for comfort to be honest. Its a lovely song by itself, but anyone familiar with Spiritualizeds back catalogue will no doubt hear the similarity. I'm actually singing the Lord Let It Rain lyrics along with this tune as I listen. The string arrangement is lovely though.

Heading For The Top - Now we're talkin. Bluesy keys, tons of feedback and a massive guitar riff start things off. A crescendo of drums and bass fills in the spaces and then Pearce lends his voice to complete this 6 minute epic that builds up into a frenzy of uplifting, powerful feedback, strings, religious chanting and harmonies. Highlight of the album so far.

Freedom - Another slow ballad. nice enough, but meh..

I Am What I Am - A funky bass line and pounding drum lead the way with Pearce rambling over the top joined by female bluesy back vocals. More pounding piano and distorted sax joins the mix and we have the dirtiest sounding thing Pearce has done in years. What Pearce has always been able to do from his days with Spacemen 3 all the way up to now, is make a simple 2 or 3 chord progression sound exciting and fresh even though its the same 3 chords we were hearing from him 20 years ago.

Mary - I got bored half way through this one. Its a great vocal from Pearce but I think it was a bit over done in the studio. This one could of worked if it had been stripped down but instead its overloaded with strings.

Life Is A Problem - Jesus heavy. Pearce is begging Jesus to lead him the way to a better life, or just a better place. Its hard to know whether Pearce is literal in his meaning of Jesus. Is he openly showing his colours as a Christian or is Jesus simply a metaphor for something that can save him? i guess only he knows, but this is an out and out cry for help.

So long You Pretty Thing - Opening as a duet between Pearce and his 11 year old daughter until the organs piano and soft drums and more interestingly, a banjo, come into the mix. Its then back to asking the lord and jesus for help.
Just when you thought it was ending on a flat line the whole thing erupts. Its an epic finale, it really is.
"So long you pretty thing, god save your little soul, the music that you played so hard aint on your radio, and all your dreams of diamond rings and all of rocknroll could bring you, so long, so long"


On first listen its a mixed bag. When its good, its really really good. But when its not, it does fall a bit flat but thankfully these moments arent long lived.
Its been a long 4 years but thankfully its been worth the wait and Jason Pearce and Spiritualized have released one of the most heartfelt and emotional albums your likely to hear this year.