Spiritualized – Let It Come Down 2LP

Description

Jason Piercehas never shied away from changes in pursuit of his artistic goals. He tradedSpacemen 3‘s white-hot intensity for the gentler ebb and flow ofSpiritualized, and took things a step further by firing the rest of the band after their greatest success,Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space.Let It Come Downis another step inPierce‘s difficult, single-minded creative path. To craft the album’s epic sound,Piercesang the melodies into a Dictaphone, translated them to piano, and then transposed them into orchestral arrangements. This painstaking process results in an album that is equal parts intimate confessions and ambitious soundscapes, yet, despite the lineup changes and its lengthy inception,Let It Come Downdoesn’t sound radically different fromSpiritualized‘s previous albums, proving for once and all thatPierceisSpiritualizedandSpiritualizedisPierce. Instead, it feels like a natural progression from the densely orchestrated space rock of the first threeSpiritualizedalbums, especially on the bleak, bluesy “Out of Sight” and the plaintive “Don’t Just Do Something.” Sweeping, stratospheric string and brass sections dominate the album, with over 100 musicians surroundingPierce‘s frail, desolate vocals on some songs. Indeed, the lushness of the arrangements sometimes overpowers the album’s relatively straightforward songwriting, particularly on tracks like “Anything More.” While country and gospel influences bring the beautiful “Do It All Over Again” and “Won’t Get to Heaven (The State I’m In)” back down to earth,Let It Come Down‘s elaborate sound doesn’t always make its songs particularly accessible. WhenPiercedares to keep things relatively simple, as on the insistent, yearning “I Didn’t Mean to Hurt You” and the finale, “Lord Can You Hear Me,” the emotional impact is stunning; the rockers “On Fire” and “The Twelve Steps” also cut the album’s scope down to size in a direct, gripping way.Let It Come Downis another masterfully madeSpiritualizedalbum, but its very ambitions sometimes overwhelm it. All Music Guide