“Space rock” is something of a misnomer for all kinds of music; the word itself suggests chilliness and sleekness. Unfortunately, it’s a term all too often tacked on to the work of Jason Pierce, a remarkably consistent and imaginative alternative rocker for more than two and a half decades. Formerly of Spacemen 3, Pierce has always been able to inject melody and enough guitar shagginess to imbue his compositions with a certain form of approachability at odds with track lengths and album structures. His work in Spacemen 3 really used the minimalism of ’70s space rock as a skeleton to hang all sorts of seemingly dysfunctional elements: Stooge-style garage proto-punk, free jazz and the pop ambition of ’60s writers like Brian Wilson. Combined with a hazy recording approach but a sharp instrumental one, the short-lived group managed to influence a whole generation of bands. Spiritualized, Pierce’s solo outlet since the early ’90s, is an extension of this sound, energized with the confidence of solo performance and the freshness a revolving-door approach allows (Pierce is the only consistent element of the band).
More than ever in his recent work, Pierce’s approach has seen a more song-based output, and his latest release _Sweet Heart Sweet Light_ is a wonderful introduction to his talents, with all of the negatives and positives it implies. However, there is more of the latter; _Sweet Heart Sweet Light_ is some of the loosest material Pierce has ever released, with structure and ideas less important than simple melody and a sense that Pierce was truly enjoying himself in the three years of studio time it took to record. Granted, this is mixed with Sonic Youth-style drone and track length, but it never sounds indulgent or overlong.
This is a testament to his melodies, un-showy but always engaging. “So Long You Pretty Thing” is wonderful example: The track starts off with hymn-like organ and syrupy strings, but they work because of Pierce’s surprising sweetness on both vocals and guitar. This could have been an excellent tune by itself, but well-executed ambition takes over, and for more than seven minutes, Pierce layers on orchestral flourishes and layers of guitars until the track becomes something else entirely. It’s almost reminiscent of Oasis but with less blurry power and more sonic additives to balance out the guitar. Elsewhere this gift for stretching out tracks with drone and layering without redundancy is shown magnificently. “Hey Jane” smartly divides its eight-minute running time in half, first introducing its bouncy, playful garage rock nugget and then probing around tempos and sounds to flesh out the piece. And “Mary” takes its time to show off another key Pierce asset — his guitar skills — as he mixes it up with some guttural sax lines and a funky beat to make the track’s grinding pace very pleasurable indeed.
Pierce embraces brevity as well, more often than in his previous releases, and his songwriting proves essential for these briefer excursions. “Little Girl” takes its potentially sickly strings and instead lets them help the melody into a mode of later Flaming Lips work. Likewise, “Life Is a Problem” has a vulnerable vocal performance and sensitive guitar work to make its inherent sweetness sound just right.
If Spiritualized has ever had an issue on its releases, it is length: Masterpieces like _Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space_ could always have used a little trimming, and _Sweet Heart Sweet Light_ is no different. At nearly an hour, it’s pretty unwieldy, and perhaps contains one long track too many (“Headin’ For the Top Now” being the weakest) and a few too many droning guitar sections. But editing and accessibility have never been the strength of this group, and these aspects more than anything reveal a talent with almost too many interesting ideas.
But if it’s a solid introduction you want, _Sweet Heart Sweet Light_ is as solid a candidate as any. While it may not match its ’90s predecessors in terms of sheer scope and ambition, it shows a musician with talent and legacy willing to tinker with his material and songwriting approach. That is very sweet indeed.
