Spiritualized announce reissue of ‘Songs In A&E’
Spiritualized have announced a new reissue of their country-influenced 2008 studio album ‘Songs In A&E’, with striking new artwork.
The record has been remastered for vinyl and features totally revamped packaging. It will be available via Fat Possum Records on June 21 and you can pre-order it here.
Check out the new cover photo and videos for the album’s tracks ‘Soul On Fire’ and ‘You Lie You Cheat’ below:
[embedded content]
[embedded content]
Frontman Jason Pierce was in the process of writing the material on ‘Songs In A&E’ when he was admitted to the Royal London Infirmary with double pneumonia. The new cover photograph shows him lying in his hospital bed, at a time when it was believed his life was under threat.
Recommended
Reflecting on returning to the studio to make the album after his recovery, Pierce has noted: “I remember saying at the time that I felt like people who have these kinds of experiences become more charitable. They change or whatever. But I think I came back partly to the same disappointing person I was before. And sometimes I still feel the same. But a lot of people worked really hard to get me out of there and I also realised just how lucky I was.”
It is the latest re-release from the band, as part of the series The Spaceman Reissue Program: Curated by J. Spaceman, following on from ‘Lazer Guided Melodies’, ‘Pure Phase’, ‘Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space’ and ‘Let It Come Down’, all released in 2021. 2004’s ‘Amazing Grace’ received the re-release treatment earlier this year.
In January, the band were announced for this year’s FOCUS Wales, the annual music festival and conference held in Wrexham, alongside The Mysterines and Benefits.
This year’s event will be the 14th edition of the festival, and it will take place from May 9 to 11, and over 70 live acts have now been confirmed to appear. Tickets are available here.
Spiritualized will also play as part of the Brighton Festival on May 18.
The group’s most recent album of new material was ‘Everything Was Beautiful’ in 2022, their ninth studio record. In a four-star review, NME wrote: “Etched from a series of early demos in 2014, Pierce’s latest symphonic offering finds the Spiritualized frontman experimenting with 16 different instruments alongside 30 musicians, including his daughter Poppy, long-time collaborator John Coxon, string, brass sections and choirs. The result is a densely orchestrated record that is as solid as it is sprawling.”