J. Spaceman has delivered another masterpiece.
The multitalented musician (whose real name is Jason Pierce) is operating at the height of his space-rock powers on the newly released “Everything Was Beautiful.”
It’s a gorgeous and moving suite of orchestral pop, towering rock and intergalactic sounds, sewn together in furious yet meticulous fashion by the always adventurous Spaceman and his fellow musical travelers in the band Spiritualized.
The album is overflowing with wildness and wonder, tension and turmoil, and every song seems to evoke new emotions and feelings. It’s the rare record that changes course on a regular basis and yet still manages to come across as totally coherent.
Of course, Spaceman has long been a master at making the whole feel so much greater than the sum of its parts. Most famously, Spiritualized’s 1997 effort, “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space,” is rightly considered one of the greatest albums of the ’90s.
“Everything Was Beautiful” can be comfortably mentioned in the same breath as that acclaimed earlier effort and should be considered an early frontrunner for best album of 2022.
Besides listening to the new album — Spiritualized’s ninth overall — fans can visit YouTube and watch the cool live film of “I’m Coming Home” (the amazing closing cut on “Everything Was Beautiful”). The film was directed by Spaceman and Juliette Larthe and uses footage filmed in the band’s Nottingham rehearsal space in early 2022.
