Sweet Heart Sweet Light
Studio album by
Spiritualized
Released16 April 2012
Genre
Length59:30
LabelDouble Six
ProducerJason Pierce
Spiritualized chronology
Songs in A&E
(2008)		 Sweet Heart Sweet Light
(2012)		 And Nothing Hurt
(2018)

Sweet Heart Sweet Light is the seventh studio album by Spiritualized. It was released on 16 April 2012, on Double Six Records.

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 on 11 October 2011.[1] Sweet Heart Sweet Light featured contributions from Pierce's 11-year-old daughter Poppy Spaceman, as well as contributions from the Icelandic band Amiina.[2][3] 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.[4]

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.[5]

The first song released from the album was "Hey Jane".[6] A music video for "Hey Jane" was released on 19 March 2012.[7] The video has caused controversy over its violent content.[8]

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.[9]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.4/10[10]
Metacritic81/100[11]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
The A.V. ClubB+[13]
Chicago Tribune[14]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[15]
The Guardian[16]
The Independent[17]
NME7/10[18]
Pitchfork8.8/10[19]
Rolling Stone[20]
Spin8/10[21]

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".[11] Pitchfork's Ryan Dombal gave the album a "Best New Album" designation, calling it Pierce's most uplifting album of his career.[19] 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."[22] Rob Hakimian also praised the album, writing "All ten of the songs here are grandiose and muscular in the great tradition of Spiritualized songs, doing away entirely with the fragility that cropped up on songs like "Death Take Your Fiddle" from their last album."[23]

Not all reviews were positive. In a more mixed review, Drowned in Sound'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."[24] Harry Sword of The Quietus gave the album a negative review, writing "Not only does Sweet Heart Sweet Light hit all patented Spiritualized thematic buttons squarely between the eyes – religion, drugs, sickness and redemption – it is also a record that covers everything with a Wyoming sized scoop of full-fat icky sentiment." Sword concluded: "And where previous lyrical excesses have often been tempered by a genius for tension building arrangement, the overriding vibe on Sweet Heart Sweet Light is that of bloated self-parody, and gratuitous self-pity."[25]

The album was listed 20th on Stereogum's list of top 50 albums of 2012.[26]

Track listing

All songs written by Jason Pierce except where noted.

  1. "Huh? (Intro)" – 1:00
  2. "Hey Jane" – 8:51
  3. "Little Girl" – 3:43
  4. "Get What You Deserve" – 6:47
  5. "Too Late" – 3:45
  6. "Headin' for the Top Now" – 8:22
  7. "Freedom" – 4:31
  8. "I Am What I Am" (Pierce, Dr. John) – 4:37
  9. "Mary" – 6:11
  10. "Life Is a Problem" – 4:02
  11. "So Long You Pretty Thing" (Pierce, Poppy Spaceman) – 7:49

Personnel

The following people contributed to Sweet Heart Sweet Light.[27]

Musicians

Spiritualized

Additional musicians

  • Poppy Spaceman - vocals on "Headin' for the Top Now" and "So Long You Pretty Thing"
  • John Coxon - Gibson Firebird
  • Romeo Stodart - banjo, Gibson 335, 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
  • Finn Peters - tenor saxophone, flute
  • Evan Parker - alto saxophone
  • 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

Chart performance for Sweet Heart Sweet Light
Chart (2012) Peak
position
French Albums (SNEP)[28] 136
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[29] 33
UK Albums (OCC)[30] 19
US Billboard 200[31] 60
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[32] 9
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[33] 16
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[34] 24

References

  1. ↑ Spiritualized • Sweet Heart Sweet Light. Double Six Records. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  2. ↑ Spiritualized "Sweet Heart Sweet Light". Fat Possum Records. 24 February 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  3. ↑ Norris, John. Spiritualized Goes Pop. Interview. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  4. ↑ "Jason Pierce 'living in the studio' to record new Spiritualized album | News". Nme.Com. 7 July 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
  5. ↑ Dombal, Ryan. Take Cover: Spiritualized: Sweet Heart Sweet Light. Pitchfork Media. 6 April 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  6. ↑ Battan, Carrie. Spiritualized Share New Song and WTF Album Cover. Pitchfork. 24 February 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  7. ↑ Minsker, Evan. NSFW Video: Spiritualized: "Hey Jane". Pitchfork Media. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  8. ↑ Shaffer, Nathan. "Spiritualized – Sweet Heart Sweet Light".
  9. ↑ "Aktuelles VUT: VUT - Verband unabhängiger Musikunternehmer*innen e. V."
  10. ↑ "Sweet Heart Sweet Light by Spiritualized reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  11. 1 2 "Reviews for Sweet Heart Sweet Light by Spiritualized". Metacritic. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  12. ↑ Phares, Heather. "Sweet Heart, Sweet Light – Spiritualized". AllMusic. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
  13. ↑ Harvey, Eric (17 April 2012). "Spiritualized: Sweet Heart Sweet Light". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  14. ↑ Kot, Greg (16 April 2012). "Album review: Spiritualized, 'Sweet Heart Sweet Light'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  15. ↑ Wood, Mikael; Rahman, Ray (13 April 2012). "Albums: April 13, 2012". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  16. ↑ Jonze, Tim (12 April 2012). "Spiritualized: Sweet Heart Sweet Light – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  17. ↑ Gill, Andy (13 April 2012). "Album: Spiritualized, Sweet Heart Sweet Light (Spaceman/Double Six)". The Independent. Archived from the original on 22 May 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  18. ↑ Beaumont, Mark (13 April 2012). "Spiritualized – 'Sweet Heart, Sweet Light'". NME. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  19. 1 2 Dombal, Ryan (16 April 2012). "Spiritualized: Sweet Heart Sweet Light". Pitchfork. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  20. ↑ Hermes, Will (17 April 2012). "Sweet Heart Sweet Light". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  21. ↑ Plagenhoef, Scott (15 April 2012). "Spiritualized, 'Sweet Heart Sweet Light' (Double Six)". Spin. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  22. ↑ Chris, Lo (11 April 2012). "Music – Review of Spiritualized – Sweet Heart Sweet Light". BBC Music.
  23. ↑ Hakimian, Rob (2 April 2012). "Album Review: Spiritualized – Sweet Heart Sweet Light". Beats Per Minutes. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  24. ↑ Hammond, Didz (16 April 2012). "Spiritualized – Sweet Heart Sweet Light". Drowend in Sound. Archived from the original on 13 April 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  25. ↑ Sword, Harry. Spiritualized – Sweet Heart Sweet Light. The Quietus. 16 April 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  26. ↑ "Stereogum's Top 50 Albums of 2012". 5 December 2012.
  27. ↑ Sweet Heart, Sweet Light – Credits. Allmusic. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
  28. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Spiritualized – Sweet Heart, Sweet Light - Huh?". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  29. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Spiritualized – Sweet Heart, Sweet Light - Huh?". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  30. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  31. ↑ "Spiritualized Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  32. ↑ "Spiritualized Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  33. ↑ "Spiritualized Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  34. ↑ "Spiritualized Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
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