After 2018’s And Nothing Hurt, Spiritualized announced their ninth studio album, the aptly-titled Everything Was Beautiful, which was set to come out on February 25 of this year. The lead single was an epic, nearly seven-minute song “Always Together With You” that stayed true to their ethereal, out-of-body-experience type of sound. There was also the folky “Crazy.” The album, though, was pushed back; it’s now set to arrive on April 22. The newest single, “The Mainline Song,” is out today.
The track is lengthy as well, approaching six minutes, and J Spaceman’s vocals don’t enter until the second half. There are layers upon layers of sound and clamor; there are noises like simmering and echoing, and it all makes up a kind of boisterous celebration. It’s hard to tell what instruments are involved, especially because the whole album has 16 different instruments throughout the songs. Spaceman also employed more than 30 musicians and singers, making this album less of a piece of music by one band but more of a collaborative effort by an orchestra. Everything Was Beautiful was made during the pandemic, when Spaceman was experiencing what he calls “beautiful solitude.” The album so far, though, sounds far from lonely or isolated; it feels intact with humanity and extremely connected.
Listen to “The Mainline Song” above.