''Everything Was Beautiful'' is the ninth studio album by

Spiritualized Spiritualized (stylised as Spiritualized®) are an English rock band formed in 1990 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Jason Pierce (often known as J. Spaceman), formerly of Spacemen 3. After several line up-changes, in 1999, the band centred on Pie ...

, released under

Fat Possum Records Fat Possum Records is an American independent record label based in Water Valley and Oxford, Mississippi. At first Fat Possum focused almost entirely on recording previously unknown Mississippi blues artists (typically from Oxford or Holly Sprin ...

on April 22, 2022. The album contains influences from

psychedelic music Psychedelic music (sometimes called psychedelia) is a wide range of popular music styles and genres influenced by 1960s psychedelia, a subculture of people who used psychedelic drugs such as Dmt, DMT, Lysergic acid diethylamide, LSD, mescaline, ...

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compo ...

, and

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

Recording and release

The content of ''Everything Was Beautiful'' was taken from the same demo sessions as and serves as a companion piece to the band's previous album, '' And Nothing Hurt''. Put together, both album titles form the quote "Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt", taken from the 1969 novel ''

Slaughterhouse-Five ''Slaughterhouse-Five, or, The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death'' is a 1969 semi-autobiographic science fiction-infused anti-war novel by Kurt Vonnegut. It follows the life experiences of Billy Pilgrim, from his early years, to his ...

'' by

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut ( ; November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American author known for his Satire, satirical and darkly humorous novels. His published work includes fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and five nonfict ...

. The album's lead vocalist,

Jason Pierce Jason Andrew Pierce (born 19 November 1965 in Rugby) is an English musician. Currently the frontman and sole permanent member of the band Spiritualized, he previously co-fronted the alternative rock band Spacemen 3 with Peter Kember from 19 ...

, played 16 different instruments during the album. The album's first single and music video, "Always Together with You", was released on 2 November 2021; the album's second single and music video, "Crazy", was released on 10 January 2022; the album's third and final single and music video, "The Mainline Song", was released on 7 March 2022.

Reception

On the review aggregate site

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, ''Everything Was Beautiful'' earned a rating of 83 out of 100, based on 23 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 8.2 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus and ranked it the 18th best album of 2022. The album received 4/5 stars from the

Observer An observer is one who engages in observation or in watching an experiment. Observer may also refer to: Fiction * ''Observer'' (novel), a 2023 science fiction novel by Robert Lanza and Nancy Kress * ''Observer'' (video game), a cyberpunk horr ...

and 4/5 from the

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

. Ben Cardew of

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

gave the album a 7.8/10 and described the album "like meeting an old friend and finding new shared memories." Caleb Campbell writing for Under the Radar gave the album a 9/10 while claiming that there is "immensely evident craftsmanship that runs through the album".

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

reviewer Fred Thomas described the album as a "delirious and exciting, a perfect distilment of the best parts of the band's various phases that feels reinvigorated and new" and gave the album a 4.5/5. Writing for ''

The Line of Best Fit ''The Line of Best Fit'' is an independent online magazine based in London, concentrating on new music. It publishes independent music reviews, features, interview, and media. Founded by Richard Thane in February 2007 and currently edited by P ...

'', John Amen gave the album 9/10 and concluded, "''Everything Was Beautiful'' shows Spiritualized accessing yet another artistic plateau, forging an exemplary hybridization of unshakeable songs and sublimely assembled music." In ''

Relix ''Relix'', originally and occasionally later ''Dead Relix'', is a magazine that focuses on live and improvisational music. The magazine was launched in 1974 as a handmade newsletter devoted to connecting people who recorded Grateful Dead concer ...

'', Justin Jacobs notes that Spaceman relies on "many of his old tricks, but the music still comes out sounding fresh and colorful" and writes that "his heady sound feels more vital than ever".

Track listing

Charts

Personnel

Per the album liner notes: ;Musicians * J Spaceman – Fender Thinline guitar, Fender Jazzmaster guitar, Gibson L-00 acoustic guitar, Fender Bass VI, Burns Sonic bass, Gibson Firebird III guitar, Farfisa Compact organ, Vox Continental guitar, Roland Juno-60 keyboard, Moog, Radio Shack 100, harmonica and bass harmonica, glockenspiel, melodica, piano * Tony Foster – Gibson Black Beauty guitar, Fender Jazzmaster guitar, harmonica, Rickenbacker lap steel, Epiphone Batwing guitar * James Stelfox – Fender Precision bass, Fender Jazz bass, Fender Bass VI, Burns Sonic bass, Epiphone violin bass * John Coxon – Gibson Firebird guitar, Vicente Sanchis Spanish guitar, Fender Telecaster guitar * Tom Edwards – percussion, timpani, vibraphone, glockenspiel, marimba, orchestral bass drum * Lee Horsley – Hammond organ, piano, Vox Continental guitar, Fender Rhodes electric piano, Farfisa Compact organ * Kevin Bales – Gretsch Round Badge drums and percussion * Kid Millions (John Colpitts) – drums on original recording of "Best Thing You Never Had (The D Song)" * Brad Truax – bass on original recording of "Best Thing You Never Had (The D Song)" * Alan Wilkinson – tenor and baritone saxophones * Alex Ward – clarinet, alto saxophone * Kevin Brown – soprano and alto saxophones * Kevin Cunningham – trumpet * Stuart Haugh – trombone * Jim Walker – violin * Diamond White – violin * James Cocker – viola * Arnold Parks – cello * Melvyn Duffy - pedal steel * Jason Hart – pedal steel * David Wrench – Moog One 16 Voice analog synthesizer * Nikki Lane – vocals on "Crazy" * Dex Chilcott – backing vocals on "Crazy" * Daniel Thomas, Lena Wright, Wendi Rose, Travis Cole – singers * Alex Lamay, Adam Langston – strings and horns * Iris Mathieson – ukulele * Poppy Spaceman – vocals on "Always Together With You" ;Production * Guy Massey, Tom Leach, Misha Hering, Aaron Cupples, Iggy B, David Stanley, Shuta Shinoda, Darren Lawson, Oliver Bayston, Jason Buckle, Emre Ramazanoglu, David Wrench, Dan Cox, Cenzo Townshend, Drew Smith – recording engineers * Armelle Pignon, Ben McCluskey, Josh Green, Tom Leach, Max Prior, Robert Sellens – assistant engineers * David Wrench and J Spaceman – mixing * Matt Colton – mastering * Dan Cox and J Spaceman – additional production and editing * Farrow Design/J Spaceman – design and art direction

References

{{Spiritualized 2022 albums Spiritualized albums Bella Union albums Fat Possum Records albums