Album Review: Spiritualized - Everything Was Beautiful
My favorite albums of all time usually find two things; a world and an emotion to be the path to guide the listener through the world, the mind of the album. A few albums this year have done this. Epik High's magnificent double album Epik High Is Here, Hikaru Utada's personal Bad Mode, and JYOCHO's near-perfect Let's Promise to be Happy. With legendary space rock band Spiritualized returning with their first album in years, we can add another one to the list.
Note: I suggest the listeners grab their needed headphones, as it greatly improves the listening experience.
Always Together With You
What better way to open a new journey than to remember a previous one? Always Together With You heavily samples the band's Always Forgetting With You. I never was much of a fan of the original, but golly, this song is amazing! It is a classic blend of Spiritualized diverse and experimental instrumentals with an emotional vibe describable as "It is not all okay, and that is okay". The first two minutes are a slow instrumental build, with J.Spaceman's filtered voice peering through the cracks of the slow instrumentation, proclaiming undying love to his love. At the 2:22 mark (in the video), the dam finally bursts, opening with a gorgeous vocal harmony somewhat reminiscent of the Beach Boys.
This calm, inaudible soft-rock sound is not always for me, but it can be amazing when done right, and that is Always Together With You. Around the 3:52 mark, the song stops, before suddenly sputtering back to life. From this point, the vocal harmonies are genius, and the song is basically transcendent. Combine this with an utterly gruesome MV, and you have an experience not easy to forget. Musically, this final segment of the song might be the best moment of the decade.
Rating: 9.25/10
Best Thing You Never Had (The D Song)
Best Thing You Never Had is more reminiscent of late-50s/early-60s rock, with a little bit of funky swagger a la James Brown. Of course, this being J.Spaceman's composition, you can be sure there will be some tricks up his sleeve. Across its six-minute runtime, the song grows into something special, with its ever-evolving instrumental, courtesy of a massive backing choir. Not as grand as the one in Always Together With You, but incredible nonetheless. The ginormous funky horns are another highlight, supporting the widescreen melody, even if they do screech a little bit at times.
Rating: 8.25/10
Let It Bleed (For Iggy)
The first minute of Let It Bleed may fool you into thinking that it is a ballad. However, a minute in, the song explodes into a dramatic chorus, with some surprisingly dark and poetic lyrics on love and loss. The song's incredible jazz chorus perfectly complements the slower big band moments. As usual the instrumental builds till the very end. However, this time, it grows into utter cacophony over the slower coda. It is a strange choice but works surprisingly well.
Rating: 8.75/10
Crazy
Crazy is actually a remake of a Nikki Lane and Carey Kotsionis ballad from a few years ago. After the experimental wildness of the previous and subsequent tracks, Crazy is a soothing ballad, driven more by hope than the premonition of loss. It never explodes, and simply lets its surging melody take over. This is a genius choice and makes Crazy an instant win.
Rating: 8.75/10
The Mainline Song
Part of the reason I wrote this album review is simply to highlight what is simply the best song released this year. The Mainline Song is fantastic. Much like Always Together With You, it only truly reveals itself in the second half, when you have given it your patience. But it is hard not to here, as the instrumental first half is exhilarating, sounding like a speeding steam engine rushing out at maximum speed. The instrumental is textured and varied, never stagnant, and always pushing the listeners' ambitions while soothing them at the same time.
Three minutes in, a length longer than most modern songs, J.Spaceman's voice comes in. It does not explode, instead, it quietly asks us if we want to go to the city tonight. The simple hook is instantly catchy, but also nostalgic, blooming long-lost memories from perhaps the womb or before.
The song does not stop there though, merging the hook with the transcendental instrumentation. The song surges and grows, taking you to new places each and every listen. I cannot sum up how much I love this song, it does everything right, and has become an instant favorite of mine. If you are joyful, sad, tired or excited, pick up your nearest headphones, give The Mainline Song a listen, I implore you.
Rating: 9.25/10
The A Song (Laid In Your Arms)
Following in the footsteps of The Mainline Song is a daunting task. Unfortunately, The A Song definitely succumbs to this comparison. It is a fine song, growing to perhaps the album's craziest conclusion piling every single instrument on top of each other to the point it nearly bleeds your ears. Unfortunately, it never finds a hook to match the energy, nor is the emotion comparable to the album's best moments.
Rating: 7.75/10
I'm Coming Home Again
And the album surges back for one of the best songs this year. I'm Coming Home Again feels like a Spaghetti Western from its atmospheric, tumbleweed-ready opening moments. However, give the song its ten minutes to grow, and it alters into something completely different. The song sees our titular character finally abandon his obsession and leave, even if a happy ending is not guaranteed.
There is no one definitive point of change in I'm Coming Home Again, it just changes its DNA every few seconds enough that by the end, it has altered into a massive choir-driven gospel track with eclectic guitars and trumpets assisting the march. It is a fantastic finale, even if it takes a while to reach. Close your eyes with the final few repetitions of the hook, and just let your imagination do the rest. The song's incredible orchestral coda is also not to be missed.
Rating: 9/10
Cumulative Rating: 8.75/10
Overall Score: 8.8/10
Everything Was Beautiful is beautiful. Take your time, let the surging instrumental envelope you. This is an album not to be missed. Sometimes one must wait for the grand moments, but patience makes them all the more rewarding. Sometimes the album devolves into madness, but this is held by the restrained, introspective moments. This is an album not to be missed.
Image Source: The Guardian
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