Sweet Heart Sweet Light
| Sweet Heart Sweet Light | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Spiritualized | ||||
| Released | 16 April 2012 | |||
| Genre | Art rock, neo-psychedelia, garage rock, indie rock, gospel | |||
| Length | 59:30 | |||
| Label | Double Six | |||
| Producer | Jason Pierce | |||
| Spiritualized chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 81/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| The A.V. Club | B+ |
| Chicago Tribune | |
| Entertainment Weekly | A− |
| The Guardian | |
| The Independent | |
| NME | 7/10 |
| Pitchfork | 8.8/10 |
| Rolling Stone |  |
| Spin | 8/10 |
Sweet Heart Sweet Light is the seventh studio album by Spiritualized. It was released on 16 April 2012, on Double Six Records.
The band spent two years recording the album, in three different cities, and frontman Jason Pierce spent another year mixing it at home. Spiritualized previewed the record live, playing it in its entirety during a show at the Royal Albert Hall on 11 October 2011.Sweet Heart Sweet Light featured contributions from Pierce's 11-year-old daughter Poppy Spaceman, as well as contributions from the Icelandic band Amiina. Jason Pierce revealed in an interview that the album will "embrace" more poppy songs. Jason Pierce also stated that the album was partly inspired by the experiences of performing Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space live in its entirety.
Sweet Heart Sweet Light was originally going to be called Huh? Pierce was taking medication for liver disease while writing the album and the original title was a reference to the effects the medicine had on Pierce's mind.
The first song released from the album was "Hey Jane." A music video for "Hey Jane" was released on 19 March 2012. The video has caused controversy over its violent content.
Sweet Heart Sweet Light has received critical acclaim. From a collected 38 reviews, the review website Metacritic gives the album a score of 81 out of 100, indicating "Universal Acclaim."
Nathan Shaffer of Tiny Mix Tapes gave the album a perfect score, writing "[..] Sweet Heart, Sweet Light is one of those gorgeous things and, if nothing else, the most profound late statement Spaceman has given us in a decade."Pitchfork's Ryan Dombal gave the album a "Best New Album" designation, calling it Pierce's most uplifting album of his career. In another positive review, BBC Music's Chris Lo wrote "For every diehard fan there's someone else wondering what all the fuss is about. Sweet Heart Sweet Light, Spiritualized's seventh studio album, isn’t going to change any of that." Lo concluded: "...it's a Spiritualized album, and a great one." Rob Hakimian also praised the album, writing "All ten of the songs here are grandiose and muscular in the great tradition of Spiritualized songs, doing away entirely with the fragility that cropped up on songs like "Death Take Your Fiddle" from their last album."
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