After the groundbreaking ’80s UK group Spacemen 3 disbanded with their final album, founding member Jason Pierce (known under his moniker J Spaceman), went on to gain critical success with his group Spiritualized. Spacemen 3 laid the groundwork for Pierce’s vision with Spiritualized, and the band’s nearly four-decade run ended in 2018 with their last album And Nothing Hurt. Now, Pierce is looking to breath new life into Spiritualized’s early releases with a remastering project.
The first stage of The Spaceman Reissue Program kicks off in April with a newly remastered edition of Spiritualized’s debut album, the 1991 effort Lazer Guided Melodies. Reflecting on the project and his swift transition to Spiritualized from Spacemen 3, Pierce said:
“The last Spacemen 3 record was under-realized to me. When I listen back to that stuff it sounds like somebody finding their way. There was a lot of ideas but no way to put them into a space that would make them all work. So, there was a huge freedom forging over the last Spacemen 3 record and when Spiritualized started it was like, ‘OK it’s all yours. Go’ […] We recorded the tracks in the studio near my flat which was a place where they predominantly recorded advertising jingles and it’s where we made all the Spacemen 3 records, but then the recordings were taken to Battery Studios in London, to explore a more professional way of making music… Once I approached that way of doing things I opened up a whole world and I was astounded that somebody could take those tracks and turn it into the record it became…”
Lazer Guided Melodies‘s reissue will be the first of four releases. Spiritualized’s 1995 LP Pure Phase, 1997 album Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space, and the 2001 effort Let It Come Down will also be reworked onto vinyl in coming months.
Check out the Lazer Guided Melodies reissued vinyl above.
Lazer Guided Melodies is out 4/23 via Fat Possum. Pre-order it here.