Faithful, Honest And True

An hour of Spiritualized music to soothe your soul.

I've been quite heavy on the instrumental and downtempo side of things, though the selection is peppered with wig-outs too, spanning EPs and albums between 1990 and 2018, including Medication, the first Spiritualized single I bought, secondhand from Way Ahead Records in Derby, circa 1994.

Most of the other selections would not be possible without buying The Complete Works Volumes One and Two on double CD in 2003 and 2004, respectively. Although there has been an obsessive attention to detail regarding Jason Pierce's relationship with drugs, lyrically, literally and metaphorically, his musical output has been phenomenal.

I don't have all of the Spiritualized albums, including the most recent Everything Was Beautiful, which I've realised with a gulp is itself four years old.

Jason's ploughed a familiar furrow with his writing and music, returning constantly to musical themes and motifs, but always in a way that feels fresh, exciting and, regardless of the sometimes difficult subject matter, leaving the listener (well, this one at least) with a glimmer of hope, an optimism about the future.

And right now, we could all do with a little bit of that.

1) Luminescence (Stay With Me) (1991)

2) Cool Waves (Inst.) (1997)

3) I'm Your Man (2018)

4) Harmony 5 (Accordion) / Borrowed Your Gun (2008)

5) Medication (Single Version) (1992)

6) Going Down Slow (Instrumental) (2002)

7) On Fire (Album Version) (2001)

8) Oh Baby (2003)

9) Harmony 3 (Voice) (2008)

10) Any Way That You Want Me (Ext.) (Cover of The Troggs) (1990)

11) I Want You (EP Version) (1991)

12) Broken Heart (Instrumental) (Long Version) (1997)

13) Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space (I Can't Help Falling In Love) (Unreleased Version) (1997)

1990: Anyway That You Want Me EP: 10

1991: Run / I Want You EP: 1, 11

1992: Medication EP: 5

1997: Broken Heart Instrumental EP / Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space (Japan-only bonus track): 12

1997: Electricity EP: 2

2001: Let It Come Down: 7

2002: Do It All Over Again EP: 6

2003: Amazing Grace: 8

2008: Songs In A&E: 4, 9

2012: Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space (Remastered Edition): 13

2018: And Nothing Hurt: 3

Faithful, Honest And True (1:00:04) (GD) (M)

I've only seen Spiritualized perform live once, at the Ashton Court Festival in July 1998. Even the memory of that is hazy to the point of obliteration, but I recreated the setlist as an hour long Dubhed selection last year, which you can find here.