And Nothing Hurt

It stands tall as a late candidate for the year’s best rock record. Spiritualized has added yet another chapter to its wild, dreamlike musical legacy, proving that rock isn’t dead and that maybe everyone else just isn’t trying enough.

In all, And Nothing Hurt is nothing short of gorgeous: lush arrangements placed deftly upon somber subject matter. The resulting record is a fitting return for the spaced out and thoughtful.

A big album, grandly ambitious and sonically expansive.

And Nothing Hurt is like a seasoned mountaineer flying up K2 on one leg. [Sep 2018, p.87]

This album only re-affirms his unique and inimitable talent.

Nothing Hurt is best when it lives up to its title and cocoons you.

There is great humanity to And Nothing Hurt, a collection of wistful, wounded observations, the work of a person wearied by the world, but no less in love with it for that. There is hope and joy and naivety here, even as Pierce sounds like he’s been kicked in the groin before recording another cracked vocal.

Jason Pierce and co. have earned a victory lap. Thankfully, rather than gallivanting about the record, the band are still very much engaged, crafting what can feel like a Greatest Hits of all original material.

Brimming with intensity and the analgesic hypnotism that is Pierce’s signature, And Nothing Hurt would make a suitably majestic final Spiritualized album.

This being a Spiritualized record, you should know exactly what to expect. ... The only minor gripe that you could have with the project is that it’s nowhere near as vital as Pierce’s recent collaborative record with Föllakzoid.

In full, And Nothing Hurt stands alongside the very best outings on the Spiritualized shelf. Its finest moments are consequently its most tender, revealing how much Pierce has grown as a writer. If he continues to record, this will be the album that opens a vibrant new chapter in the saga of Spiritualized.

It might be six years since the last album, but it was worth the wait.

If this is Spiritualized’s last – and Pierce hasn’t fully rowed-back on that threat, given his lucubrations drove him “crazy”--it’s a very satisfying denouement. If not, it’s still a stellar addition to the Spiritualized® catalogue, matching the vitality of ‘Songs in A&E’ or the richness of ‘that famous one from 1997’, even if it doesn’t say anything especially new.

This is but another stroke of genius in a career full of them.

All the frustration that Pierce felt over the course of putting together this album hasn't clouded the music. On the contrary, the songs, structures, and transitions all come and go natural and easy.

Another inspirational triumph over adversity. [Oct 2018, p.90]

He's on top form here: still damaged, still brilliant, still floating in a musical galaxy entirely of his own creation. [Oct 2018, p.114]

Bursting with symphonic goodness, musical adventure and dizzying levels of intensity. [Oct 2018, p.32]

More than any previous Spiritualized album, however, And Nothing Hurt feels like a mere set of songs, an accessible group of tunes that may be painstakingly constructed but are only casually connected.

This LP successfully condenses Spiritualized’s discography into a cohesive, 48-minute listen.

Motivated more by financial necessity than the hubris it must take to even believe such an undertaking would be feasible, Pierce nonetheless constructs a thickly layered album. And while its inherent limitations are evident at times, it's a work of characteristic ambition and poignancy.