Amazing what you can do with one chord and the ugly truth. Spiritualized specialise in long, looping tunes, short on melody and chorus, but they still manage to inject some serious soul into their chemically-treated anthems.
At the Red Box last night, a sell-out crowd stood rapt as Jason Pierce, a.k.a. Spaceman, held them in thrall with hypnotic drones and endlessly-repeated motifs, and the same crowd leapt with fervour when Spiritualized suddenly kicked into interstellar overdrive and exploded in a swirl of light and sound.
The band's unique approach to composition makes for heady listening, and their current album, Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space, is a musical odyssey for the mind, a trip through inner space with a manic obsessive at the helm.
Spiritualized concentrate mainly on this new album during their live set, riding the waves of self-doubt with power and precision.
There's no sign of keyboardist Kate Radley in the onstage line-up, but bassist Sean Cook and drummer Damon Reece are there; I reckon that's John Coxon on guitar, Simon Clarke on flute and saxophone, and Andy Davis on organ, but I couldn't be 100 per cent sure, since Jason Pierce seems to draw from big pool of musical talent in his recorded endeavours.
One thing is certain, however, and that's the chemistry between the six Spiritualized members. Sounding like a psychedelic jazz troupe going through cold turkey, the band create extended movements which build up in intensity until you feel your mind is about to go supernova.
At other times, especially during Broken Heart and Think I'm In Love, they hold back so tightly, you feel as if your heart is about to implode into an emotional black hole. When they finally release the tension, the feeling is somewhat akin to having sweet musical medication flow through your veins.
Sometimes, though, the music tends to meander, riding the rapids in search of a definite direction. But when the band hits the highs, as on Electricity, Come Together and Cop Shoot Cop, then they're like a cool cascade of sound and inner vision.
