Background
Let It Come Down is unusual amongst Spiritualized's other releases in that it doesn't utilize many of the band's usual trademarks, such as guitar effects pedals, free jazz and drones, being a mostly orchestral work. However, it was not unexpected - the album was preceded by the lush soundscapes of previous album Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space, and the live album released in 1998. Pierce also headlined the Edinburgh Flux Festival in 1998 and 1999 playing an orchestral set with a full choir, which hinted at the direction of Let It Come Down. Phil Spector also played a role in the record's sound - Pierce had displayed a liking for Dion's album Born to Be With You, a little known 1970s effort produced by Spector - he was interviewed with Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream, where the pair enthused about the record. Pierce has also regularly credited big band leaders such as Duke Ellington, the orchestral sound of Ray Charles and Brian Wilson, and gospel music as major influences, and this album could be seen as these coming to prominence over his more psychedelic influences.
Jason Pierce is unable to read music - he wrote all the orchestral parts for the album by singing them into a portable tape recorder, transcribed those to a piano, then helped the players turn those into their specific parts. This also led, several years later, to him humming the music he composed for Silent Sound, an experimental piece for an installation by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, down the phone to the pair. The final song, "Lord Can You Hear Me," was originally written for and recorded by Spacemen 3 by Jason in 1989 and initially released on the album Playing with Fire. However, inspired by a cover of the song by the band Low, Jason started playing the song live and subsequently re-recorded it as a gospel ballad. Mimi Parker of Low appears on several tracks of the album as a backing vocalist, and is clearly audible duetting with Jason during "Lord Can You Hear Me."
The first leg of the supporting world tour saw Jason use a 13 piece band composed of Spiritualized, a horn section, and a choir. However, in 2002 Jason felt that the extra musicians weighed the show down, and carried on the tour with the regular line-up.
Read more about this topic: Let It Come Down (Spiritualized Album)
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