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| vinyl cover |
release date: Jun. 13, 1994
format: vinyl (CAD 4011) / cd (Deluxe Edition)
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,90]
producer: Mike Hedges and Lush
label: 4AD Records - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: A) 1. "Light from a Dead Star" - 2. "Kiss Chase" (4 / 5) - 3. "Blackout" - 4. "Hypocrite" (live) - 5. "Lovelife" (4,5 / 5) - 6. "Desire Lines" - 7. "The Invisible Man" (4 / 5) - - B) 1. "Undertow" - 2. "Never-Never" (4,5 / 5) - 3. "Lit Up" (5 / 5) (live) - 4. "Starlust"
2nd studio album by English, London-founded band Lush. This is just another great album released in 1994, and this is one of my favourites. This is also the band's far best album. The full album debut Gala (1990) is a compilation of the band's first three eps. It's dark and promising shoegaze and the follow-up, the actual studio debut album Spooky (1992) seemed like an unfinished Robin Guthrie project.
Split has a fine balance between dream pop and indie pop, and has both long progressive dreamy sounds as well as more direct almost power pop energetic tracks, all kept together by the same touch. The front duo is made up of Emma Anderson and Miki Berenyi who are both doing lead vocals and play guitars, with Phil King playing bass, and Chris Acland handling drums. The album is produced by Mike Hedges, who used to work with post-punk and gothic rock bands like The Cure, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Bauhaus but also with more synth pop and new romantic bands like Associates, Thomas Dolby and that seems like a better choice than Guthrie's strong production signature of dream pop reminding me of album productions for This Mortail Coil and his former main band Cocteau Twins. After this album the band released its least interesting album, Lovelife (1996), which was a change in style to a more 'britpop' universe, and after the drummer, Acland's tragic suicide in '96, the remaining members decided it was time to stop. Emma Anderson continued in the duo-band Sing-Sing, however, Split really stands out as their best effort, imho.
The cd issue comes in a 2-disc Deluxe Edition with a 3-track bonus disc.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 ]
[ collectors' item - 1st pressing 'near mint' - from ~ €160,- ]
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