Spiritualized: Songs In A E

Spiritualized
Songs in A&E
Universal

For Jason Pierce, it took a stop in Cincinnati and a brush with death (unrelated incidents in this case) to bring his latest project into focus.

Pierce (aka J. Spaceman) wrote much of Songs In A&E several years ago, simply strumming out the melodies on a vintage 1929 Gibson he’d purchased from a Cincinnati music shop. A serious bout with double pneumonia derailed his work, however, and when it finally came time to revisit the material last year, Pierce had far loftier goals in mind.

Though it’s being marketed as a major left turn, Songs In A&E is unmistakably a Spiritualized record, complete with Pierce’s usual themes of religion, drugs, and mortality. The shoegazer drones of the British band’s early work are missing, but that trend was noticeable as far back as 2001’s Let It Come Down. As with that record, Pierce has employed a small army of choral and orchestral accompaniment to add heft to his unique brand of psychedelic gospel blues. On slow builders like “Sweet Talk” and “Baby I’m Just a Fool,” it works wonders. But like much of Pierce’s output, there is some unevenness (the abrasive “Yeah Yeah”) and lyrical shortcomings (three songs have the word “fire” in the title). Nonetheless, a welcome return.


(Andrew Clayman)


Published in The Scene, June 2008