LAST LISTENED TO eons ago
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT damned small
RATING
Spiritualized were formed in the early ninties from the ashes of Spacemen 3 by Jason Pierce and whoever he deigned to work with on any given day. Their brand of drug-fuelled fuzzy gospel rock reached it's zenith on their fourth album from 1997 which contained this title track.
The song begins with a repeating vocal, that will be sustained through most of the track:
"All i want in life's a little bit of love to take the pain away, getting strong today, a giant step each day"
It is a hopeful statement but one that comes from a place of heartbreak and darkness, a place that Pierce found himself in during this period. The album was recorded following his split with girlfriend Kate Radley, who remained a member of the band during recording. Hence the heart-broken sounds that permeate not only this track but others on the release. However, the influence of Pierce's love of gospel music stopped him from making things too depressing and leant an uplifting air in part.
The above vocal refrain is soon overlapped with many others, following variations on the heart-broken theme. These further vocals build in layers throughout the song, creating a complex tapestry at the song's close. This structure is reflected in the music.
The many lush layers of sound of music, mostly played by guitar/bass/drums are given an extra layer of heartbreak with some violin. Again, as with the vocals, these layers build and create an increasingly dense sound, before cutting back somewhat towards the end to give space for the vocals.
It all ends with a NASA beep, a slight jokey end to a very serious song.
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