Spiritualized: Songs in A&E

Label: Sanctuary Records

It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Jason Pierce’s storied Spiritualized, but he had a good excuse: a near-fatal encounter with pneumonia in 2005, which not only took its toll on him physically but artistically as well. Few artists in recent years have made out-of-body experiences as central to their work as the psych-hazed musings of Pierce and his bands Spacemen 3 and Spiritualized, but his scary flirtation with the other side has given a renewed purpose to his work. Never has he sounded this assured and focused, putting together a stunning album of plaintive, wistful songs in turn mournful and uplifting. No longer are Pierce’s tunes drowned in layers of drone and feedback; here he reveals his emotional core, confessional but never self-pitying, in an album that’s enjoyable as it is powerful. Coming on the heels of his terrific soundtrack for Harmony Korine’s Mister Lonely, Jason Pierce has shown that his best work is still ahead of him. (James)