“Amazing Grace” 20th Anniversary Reissue CDs
“We finished the album after 11 days.”
January 12, 2024
Photo by William Seldon
Web Exclusive
Spiritualized are one of the most iconic bands of their generation, formed in 1990 after founding member and core member of Jason Pierce's previous band, Spacemen 3, disbanded.
Since then, they've released nine critically acclaimed albums, embarked on several musical directions, and changed line-ups several times along the way. It was an eventful journey, but one that was ultimately fruitful and rewarding, culminating in the band's now legendary status as genuine innovators in their field.
One of their most respected players is 2003 amazing grace, the band's fifth album. Recorded in just 11 days over three weeks, Amazing Grace heralded a new approach to music making for Jason Pierce and Spiritualized.
With Amazing Grace which will be remastered and reissued on vinyl next week (Friday January 19), Pierce looks back on the making of the album while revealing plans for a potential new record to appear in 2024.
Dom Gourlay (Under the radar): Amazing Grace reissued on the 19thu January for his twentieth anniversary. It was a very different record Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space and indeed anything Spiritual had been released up to that point. How did the ideas and songs come together?
Jason Pierce: Maybe in the back of my mind I was a little more into songwriting. Songs that had bridges and middle octaves and choruses and whatever. On the back of things like “Come Together” and “Electricity” I felt like I could write a song in a more traditional way. It also came off the back of two albums that were massive in their outlook. Let it go down had a 100-piece orchestra while Amazing Grace it was quite the opposite of that. And also, this idea that maybe we could just throw things and capture their immediacy. I'd also started doing more records with John Coxon and Ashley Wales from Spring Heel Jack and their whole studio, which was about putting mics at the source where the sound was rather than messing with reverbs or anything another. They were just beautiful microphones and beautiful source sounds. Somewhere in this chaos of ideas was Amazing Grace. Looking back, the songs I thought would be easy to write. the heaviest tracks I thought I could record in my sleep. ended up being the hardest parts. They were the ones who suggested we needed more time. You need more time to do the things you think you know. Whereas with the quieter stuff on this album like 'Rated X', 'Oh Baby' and 'Lay It Down Slow' it felt like we'd recorded something very magical. Not that the rest lacks magic, but the real magic in it is the part that was missed by people who say Amazing Grace it was a kind of garage record. There are probably three songs on it that fit that description. It wasn't like tearing up the rulebook or anything. It didn't feel like it was out of our purview. Listening back now, it felt like the truly standout tracks. the kind of one-of-a-kind pieces. they were the most introspective moments. The most peaceful, almost silent pieces. The parts that you would expect us to have spent time perfecting to get right, for some strange reason we got it right, and that's pretty rare on any recording that hasn't been recorded over and over again. I introduced the songs to the band on the day of the recording and then recorded the songs that day. We finished the album after 11 days.
It was a very different lineup than the one that had made the first three records. Did that change the dynamic in any way?
Yes definitely. I asked John [Coxon] to come in and produce, so I put someone outside myself to make decisions and call the shots. That was the thing really, he wasn't going to bother. Without meaning to be that, it's as good as it's going to get. There were overdubs and string quartet pieces, backing vocals, choir parts. The intention was to try to capture the immediacy similar to how Spring Heel Jack works when they go on tour rather than going after every idea possible. Just try to put it down and see what we get. If it hadn't worked or we hadn't seen results, we would have changed tactics. I'm not just saying that's it. you get what you get. The idea was no bigger than the thing itself. We didn't have to stick to one idea because the beauty is in the idea. He certainly didn't. It just worked as soon as we had downloaded four or five songs. Once we got 'Oh Baby' we just knew the results we were getting were really working.
The zeitgeist between Ladies and gentlemen… and Amazing Grace had changed dramatically, particularly in terms of music and fashion. Does that ever play a role in your thought process?
I don't even know who was making records when Amazing Grace was coming out. There is music for all seasons. There's always someone playing free jazz or someone playing rock and roll. There's always someone doing something interesting. It's just that things that are hip are generally not that interesting. It's interesting for some other reason but not necessarily musical. I never thought that's where my attention should be. Let's make it more hip or make it more commercial. If anything, it's more commercial once you start writing a song. But this is also interesting. Even this is a strange process. It's weird and rare because it's so financially rewarding if you can get a hit record. You'd think every poet on the planet would string a few words together and write something that could move everyone. Except it doesn't work that way. It's not magic, but it's this weird thing that I find fascinating. I really do. You can move the sounds, change the pitch, change the EQ and more. The words don't have to be eloquent. It doesn't even have to be words. You can just do these things that find a way to become important in other people's lives.
With Amazing Grace Recorded in 11 days, is it one of those records that you enjoy playing live, as some of those songs have remained in the band's live sets ever since?
A lot of our sets are based on where we are at the time. The most recent live performances featured mostly songs from the last two records. It just seems really important if you're putting out a record to at least be able to play some of it when you go on tour and also offset the idea of the audience groaning or going to the bar if you play some new songs. If I'm going to keep putting out new music, it has to be valid and worth performing. It seems like so many people put out new records to validate then go on tour to play their old songs. I never released records under this guise. No one really cares about that, it just gets us back on track. It took a while for the band to get to where they feel like everyone is in love with them. Like everyone gets on board the right way. It's not always easy to keep the band together and get everyone on the same page. You don't want to be in a band where you're telling people what to play, but they have to have the same roadmap. That's why your first band always works because you grew up together. They sat in the same rooms playing the same records together. You are all completely on the same page, but it is more difficult as people come from different places and regions. But I feel like we achieved something very deep and special with this line up.
Do you have any music ready? Are you currently working on a new record?
Yeah, a little bit, but we've been touring a lot. So, it's been hard just playing shows, especially since we left the EU. It's hard trying to combine the two things, but I guess when it's all over, we'll start putting some ideas down.
The impact of Brexit has hit touring hard for British bands and also artists from abroad coming here. Looking at some of the festival's early announcements, it's clear that foreign headliners won't be booking as many UK bands and UK festival bookers struggle to do the same with foreign festivals. Do you think it will get worse before it gets better?
I think it will almost certainly get worse because nobody is fighting for anybody. It's almost like it's just been forgotten. If people like Elton John are writing letters saying “what the hell are you doing” then it must be bad. It's not just the musicians. If you're in the music business—if you're doing a front house sound or whatever—you're not just working with a band. You don't just do a month in Europe and then your year's work is over. Go on tour with someone else afterwards. There's a 90 day rule for Europe now, so that's the maximum number of days someone can work there. There is so much paperwork now, too many to mention. Visas, cards, bus rental, it's just a mess. Our last European tour was six or seven dates, whereas before it would have been about three months. I'd like to think we're fine, but it's not just about us. It's about people just trying to get started in it. Trying to make something like the national orchestra of Ukraine that did not receive the entry. No one says, “Leave it to us, we'll figure it out by tomorrow.”
There doesn't seem to be any push from any of the major political parties to try to solve it.
That's what I'm saying. I'm not suggesting someone in a band sit down and work it out. It won't take that long to sort out some politics, but it's forgotten. None of them are interested in the arts. This government does not have an artistic bone in its body.
Are there any new artists you would recommend? Under the radar and his readers to check out?
I'm not hearing any new stuff right now. I go through everything I've ever had and just play it. We're on tour right now, so I'm playing music all the time. Much to my dismay, Spotify has put a limit on the number of songs you can put in a playlist—I think it's 10,000 songs. So, their idea is that 10,000 songs is enough for everyone.
Do you have any tours or festivals planned for 2024?
We're filling in dates we couldn't make this year [2023]. Going back and playing some of the places in Europe that we should have done this time but didn't, then maybe sometime in the studio in between. I think we're at the top of our game right now, so it's a shame not to keep playing if we can. We're supporting Queens of the Stone Age in America this month, to keep us going basically. Because it seems to just stop, it stops and that's for a long time, then when we start again it has to be rebuilt. While it's running the way it is, we'll just have to keep playing as many shows as we can.
Amazing Grace is being re-released on Friday 19th January via Fat Possum as part of “The Spaceman Reissue Programme: Curated by J Spaceman”.
from our partners at http://www.undertheradarmag.com/interviews/spiritualized_on_the_20th_anniversary_reissue_of_amazing_grace
