20世紀の音楽史に燦然と輝く傑作『宇宙遊泳』を生み出し、1990年代のUKロック・シーンにおいて異彩を放った孤高のロック・バンド、スピリチュアライズドが2012年発表の『スウィート・ハート・スウィート・ライト』以来となる6年ぶりの新作『アンド・ナッシング・ハート』を発表!
本作は東ロンドンにある自宅の1室にて、スペースマンことジェイソン・ピアースによってほぼ1人で楽曲制作と録音が行われた。中でも苦労したことは、曲がスタジオ・セッションのように聞こえるようにすることであった。自宅での録音に慣れていなかったこともあり、ジェイソンは数週間、数ヶ月に渡り、納得する音になるまで少しずつ調整していったそうだ。本アルバム制作について、ジェイソンは以下のように語っている。
「2週間ほどクラシックのアルバムを聴き、ギターで入れたいコードを弾きました。自分が思い描くものにあったコードを見つけたら、それをサンプリングし、次のコードを探してそれにマッチさせようとしました。この作業には数週間かかり、納得のいく弦楽器のサウンドをまとめるのに苦労しました。正直なところ、誰かに来てもらい、パートを演奏してもらいたかったです。」
地道に音のレイヤーを重ねていき、壮大でシネマティックな全9曲を完成させた。本作では、これまでの作品のように広大な宇宙を感じさせる圧倒的な世界観を表現している。

発売・販売元 提供資料 （2018/06/18）

NME - 4 stars out of 5 -- "This is lush space-pop, crammed with complex string arrangements, countless guitar lines, dense percussion and rich soundscapes..." Uncut - "[A] stately, mature masterpiece in its own right, as devastating as it was gorgeous."

Rovi

Six years in the making, And Nothing Hurt, the eighth album by Spiritualized, is instantly recognizable for its trademark meld of garage rock, pillowy psychedelia, gospel, R&B, and blues via guitars, strings, horns, keyboards, and a stellar backing chorus in intimate, vulnerable, confessional songs. Since the early '90s (earlier if you count Spacemen 3), Jason Pierce has cultivated a lush production palette and songwriting style that often involves dozens of musicians in big-budget recording studios. This date follows that M.O. with a caveat: It was largely recorded on a laptop alone in his bedroom. Pierce began these sessions as a series of demos with Youth. Unhappy with the result, he scrapped almost everything to begin again, but faced a logistics problem: Most of his money had been spent. Necessity being the mother of invention, he bought a laptop and undertook the painstaking process of learning to use Pro Tools. His budget was so miniscule, the record's requisite string orchestra was assembled from sampled bits off classical recordings. After finishing basic tracks, he hired players for instruments he couldn't play, including timpani, horns, and upright bass, as well as the vocal chorus. He cut their parts in professional studios. Despite this, And Nothing Hurt (titled after the epitaph of Billy Pilgrim, the hero of Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slaughterhouse Five), fits Spiritualized's aesthetic perfectly.
As a songwriter and arranger, all of Pierce's strengths are readily apparent. The strummed ukulele intro to opener "A Perfect Miracle" blossoms into a Baroque psychedelic waltz that Ray Davies might have constructed during the Kinks' Village Green Preservation Society period. "I'm Your Man" is drenched in the warmth of Stax-style horns in kaleidoscopic R&B. The sunshine-drenched "Here It Comes (The Road) Let's Go" weaves a strolling NOLA-style horn chart through a gospelized vocal chorus, pulsing analog synths, and shambolic guitars. "Damaged" is a country waltz a la Mickey Newbury with slide guitars in place of pedal steel and a lonesome, lyric that sounds simultaneously exhausted and needy. "The Morning After" continues the story of Jane from "Hey Jane," and gives way to a squalling boogie garage rock orgy built on a two-chord vamp and peppered with bleating saxophones, brass, and backing vocals. "The Morning After" nods toward the Loaded-era Velvet Underground with its textured yet frenetic attack, underscored by a howling harmonica and framed by a female chorus that transforms the tune into mutant gospel. Two other tracks here, "The Prize" and the closer "Sail on Through," are hazy, languid assemblages of orchestral psych pop and narcotic gospel. During the recording process, Pierce felt he was creating the final Spiritualized effort; pleased with results, that seems no longer to be the case. 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. ~ Thom Jurek|

Rovi