''Sweet Heart Sweet Light'' is the seventh studio album by
Spiritualized. It was released on 16 April 2012, on
Double Six Records
Domino Recording Company or simply Domino is a British independent record label based in London. There is also a wing of the label based in Brooklyn, New York that handles releases in the United States, as well as a German division called Dom ...
.
Recording and release
The band spent two years recording the album, in three different cities, and frontman
Jason Pierce spent another year mixing it at home. Spiritualized previewed the record live, playing it in its entirety during a show at the
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...
on 11 October 2011.
[Spiritualized • Sweet Heart Sweet Light]
Double Six Records
Domino Recording Company or simply Domino is a British independent record label based in London. There is also a wing of the label based in Brooklyn, New York that handles releases in the United States, as well as a German division called Dom ...
. Retrieved 22 April 2012. ''Sweet Heart Sweet Light'' featured contributions from Pierce's 11-year-old daughter Poppy Spaceman, as well as contributions from the Icelandic band
Amiina.
[Spiritualized "Sweet Heart Sweet Light"]
Fat Possum Records. 24 February 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2012.[Norris, John]
Spiritualized Goes Pop
Interview. Retrieved 22 April 2012. Jason Pierce revealed in an interview that the album will "embrace" more poppy songs. Jason Pierce also stated that the album was partly inspired by the experiences of performing ''
Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space'' live in its entirety.
''Sweet Heart Sweet Light'' was originally going to be called ''Huh?'' Pierce was taking medication for
liver disease while writing the album, and the original title was a reference to the effects the medicine had on Pierce's mind.
[Dombal, Ryan]
Take Cover: Spiritualized: Sweet Heart Sweet Light
Pitchfork Media. 6 April 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
The first song released from the album was "Hey Jane".
[Battan, Carrie]
Spiritualized Share New Song and WTF Album Cover
'' Pitchfork''. 24 February 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2012. A music video for "Hey Jane" was released on 19 March 2012.
[Minsker, Evan]
NSFW Video: Spiritualized: "Hey Jane"
Pitchfork Media. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2012. The video has caused controversy over its violent content.
In 2012 it was awarded a silver certification from the
Independent Music Companies Association which indicated sales of at least 20,000 copies throughout Europe.
Reception
''Sweet Heart Sweet Light'' has received critical acclaim. From a collected 38 reviews, the review website
Metacritic gives the album a score of 81 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim".
[
'' Pitchfork''s Ryan Dombal gave the album a "Best New Album" designation, calling it Pierce's most uplifting album of his career.][ In another positive review, BBC Music's Chris Lo wrote "For every diehard fan there's someone else wondering what all the fuss is about. ''Sweet Heart Sweet Light'', Spiritualized's seventh studio album, isn't going to change any of that." Lo concluded: "...it's a Spiritualized album, and a great one."]Drowned in Sound
''Drowned in Sound'', sometimes abbreviated to ''DiS'', is a UK-based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway. Founded by editor Sean Adams, the site features reviews, news, interviews, and discussion forums.
History
''D ...
's Didz Hammond wrote: "It is, all in all, a pretty solid front half of a Spiritualized album that sort of transmits intermittently in the middle and then totally falls on its arse for the last three tracks."[Sword, Harry]
Spiritualized – Sweet Heart Sweet Light
The Quietus. 16 April 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
The album was listed 20th on ''Stereogum
''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine.
''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...
''s list of top 50 albums of 2012.
Track listing
All songs written by Jason Pierce except where noted.
# "Huh? (Intro)" – 1:00
# "Hey Jane" – 8:51
# "Little Girl" – 3:43
# "Get What You Deserve" – 6:47
# "Too Late" – 3:45
# "Headin' for the Top Now" – 8:22
# "Freedom" – 4:31
# "I Am What I Am" (Pierce, Dr. John) – 4:37
# "Mary" – 6:11
# "Life Is a Problem" – 4:02
# "So Long You Pretty Thing" (Pierce, Poppy Spaceman) – 7:49
Personnel
The following people contributed to ''Sweet Heart Sweet Light''.[Sweet Heart, Sweet Light – Credits]
Allmusic. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
Musicians
Spiritualized
* J. Spaceman
Jason Andrew Pierce (born 19 November 1965 in Rugby, Warwickshire, 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 Pe ...
- vocals, Fender Thinline, Fender Jaguar, Fender Jazzmaster, Vox Starstream, Farfisa, melodica, harmonica, glockenspiel
The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone.
The glo ...
, Gibson L/00 acoustic
* Tony 'Doggen' Foster - Gibson Les Paul
The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typi ...
Goldtop, Fender Jazzmaster, Fender Precision Bass
The Fender Precision Bass (often shortened to "P-Bass") is a model of electric bass guitar manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. In its standard, post-1957 configuration, the Precision Bass is a solid body, four-stringed instrum ...
, Fender VI
* Kevin Bales - Gretch Round Badge, Hayman
Hayman is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include:
Surname
*Al Hayman (1847–1917), business partner of Charles Frohman in ''Theatrical Syndicate''
*Andy Hayman, CBE, QPM (born 1959), retired British police officer, ...
Vibrasonic, Zildjian cymbals
* Tom Edwards - piano, Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...
, Fender Rhodes
The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, th ...
, Farfisa Compact, Vox Continental, Elka ELKA, Elka, or Elkas may refer to:
* Aspioti-ELKA, Greek publishing and printing firm, active 1873–1997
* An Italian synthesizer manufacturer, now defunct; brand now owned by Generalmusic, used for their amplifier products
** Elka Synthex, a synt ...
organ, percussion, timpani
Additional musicians
* Poppy Spaceman - vocals on "Headin' for the Top Now" and "So Long You Pretty Thing"
* John Coxon - Gibson Firebird
* Romeo Stodart
The Magic Numbers are an English pop rock band consisting of two brother-and-sister pairs, from Hanwell in west London. The group was formed in 2002, releasing their debut album titled ''The Magic Numbers'' on 13 June 2005. Their follow-up alb ...
- banjo, Gibson 335
The Gibson ES-335 is the world's first commercial semi-hollowbody electric guitar, sometimes known as semi-acoustic. Released by the Gibson Guitar Corporation as part of its ES (Electric Spanish) series in 1958, it is neither fully hollow nor fu ...
, vocals on "Freedom"
* SJ Selby, Laura Dickenson, Melanie Nyema - vocals (LA)
* Claudia Smith - vocals (UK)
* Maria Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir, Hildur Ársælsdóttir, Edda Rún Ólafsdóttir, Sólrún Sumarliðadóttir: String quartet (Iceland)
* Emily Pringle, Sali-Wyn Ryan, Henrietta Ridgeon, Laura Anstee - string quartet (London)
* Hildur Ársælsdóttir - saw
* Ben Edwards - trumpet
* James Adams - trombone, bass trombone
The bass trombone (german: Bassposaune, it, trombone basso) is the bass instrument in the trombone family of brass instruments. Modern instruments are pitched in the same B♭ as the tenor trombone but with a larger bore, bell and mouthpiece to ...
* Finn Peters - tenor saxophone, flute
* Evan Parker - alto saxophone
The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...
* Tony Bevan - tenor saxophone
* Roundhouse Choir - Osnat Schmool (director), Rathi Kumar (assistant director), Ashleigh Thompson, Bukky Abdul, Cathy Manning, Deborah Wilkes, Ian Jeanes, James Dee, Jeanette Bossman, Karyma Ellis, Kat Koch, Lauren Dyer, Louise Murphy, Lucy Bryant, Monika Pomeroy, Nicola Simpson, Phoenix Martins, Pippasha Khan, Rosie Blissett, Sandra Townsend, Sarah Dean, Sarah Wright, Simon Prag, Stefan Vitalis, Stuart Homer-Wright, Victoria Owusu, Usman Saidu
Additional personnel
* Mixed by J. Spaceman and James Aparicio
* Post-production by J. Spaceman and Rupert Clervaux
* Recording engineers:
** Tim Lewis (Wales)
** Scott Hackwith and Héctor Espinosa (LA)
** Birgir Jón Birgisson (Reykjavik)
** Anthony Leung and James Aparicio (London)
* Mastered by Bob Ludwig
Charts
References
{{Authority control
2012 albums
Spiritualized albums
Double Six Records albums