#4 Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space

Would I be the same person if this album hadn't floated down from space and infiltrated my psyche when I was just 16-years-old?

No is my answer. I don't think I could be. I never will be! And I'm glad!

It taught me that life didn't have to be linear, or structured, and that when society's box gets too small, I could go to the chaos and beauty of Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space by Spiritualized, and feel part of the universe again.

It came to me through a friend in the know, released on CD in a "pill tray", like a paracetamol tablet with a foil cover, with the warning (among others):
"In the unusual case where patients have taken Spiritualized for a very long time, a longer period will be needed over which their dosage will be reduced. Special help will be needed..."

Indeed.

The album moves from an impossible wall of sound into crystal clarity, fragility into ferocious fight, purpose into pointlessness.

It has accompanied hazy afternoons and bedtimes alone, 2am chats with friends, all of my loving relationships, my journey through music itself and tears...plenty of tears.

And now, 28 Years Later, with the gatefold vinyl version laid out in front of me, the bright blue 12 inch records on the turntables, a glass of Merlot in hand, and half way through the stunning third track I Think I'm In Love, and that baseline still sends shivers down my spine.

I continue to learn about and from this album.

Recent conversations have included Hans Zimmer's influence on Jason Pierce after my partner likened the Interstellar soundtrack to the album, why the line from Elvis Presley's Can't Help Falling In Love wasn't originally included as a harmony in the title track, and whether you, somewhere out there, has heard it yet.

 "Ladies and gentlemen," they yell, "We are floating in space! But none of the people down there care." (From Sophie's World by Jostein Gaardner)