More Light (Primal Scream album)
More Light is the tenth studio album by Scottish rock band Primal Scream, released on 13 May 2013. The single "It's Alright, It's OK" received airplay on national stations including BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music and Absolute Radio and on music channel MTV Rocks, whilst it has also been played on a number of smaller stations including 106.9FM WHCR and Kingstown Radio. It references influential The Gun Club singer Jeffrey Lee Pierce with a take on his song "Goodbye Johnny" and use of the track title "Walking with the Beast".[6] This is their first album since Give Out But Don't Give Up (1994) to not feature bassist Mani.
| More Light | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 13 May 2013, USA: 18 June 2013[1] | |||
| Studio | Das Bunker, London; Vox Studios, Los Angeles[2] | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 68:28 | |||
| Label | Ignition | |||
| Producer | David Holmes | |||
| Primal Scream chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from More Light | ||||
| ||||
Critical reception edit
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 7.3/10[7] |
| Metacritic | 77/100[8] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | [9] |
| The A.V. Club | B+[10] |
| The Guardian | [11] |
| The Independent | [12] |
| Mojo | [13] |
| NME | 8/10[14] |
| Pitchfork | 7.7/10[15] |
| Q | [16] |
| Rolling Stone | [17] |
| Uncut | 7/10[5] |
More Light received highly positive reactions from critics and is perhaps their most critically acclaimed album since XTRMNTR. On Metacritic, the album has a score of 77 out of 100, based on 29 reviews.[8] Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph gave a positive review of the album, describing it as "mesmerising" and containing "big, monstrous, mantra-like, psychedelic grooves". He went on to add that More Light should do much to restore Primal Scream's reputation as one of the country's most creative and ambitious rock bands. The music is dense yet uplifting, creating its own tensions with Gillespie's dark, stream-of-consciousness lyrics. Songs like "2013", "Culturecide", "Tenement Kid" and "Walking with the Beast" convey an impression of a highly-strung, heartfelt assault on the inequities of the modern world, before building to the euphoric gospel release of closing track "It's Alright, It's OK".[18]
Artwork edit
The artwork, designed by Scottish artist Jim Lambie, is based on the artwork from Scottish musician Momus's 1988 album, Tender Pervert.
Track listing edit
All tracks composed by Andrew Innes and Bobby Gillespie; except where indicated
- More Light
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "2013" | 9:01 | |
| 2. | "River of Pain" | 6:59 | |
| 3. | "Culturecide" | Innes, Gillespie, Mark Stewart | 4:36 |
| 4. | "Hit Void" | 4:10 | |
| 5. | "Tenement Kid" | 4:46 | |
| 6. | "Invisible City" | 4:41 | |
| 7. | "Goodbye Johnny" | Jeffrey Lee Pierce | 3:29 |
| 8. | "Sideman" | 3:54 | |
| 9. | "Elimination Blues" | 5:47 | |
| 10. | "Turn Each Other Inside Out" | Innes, Gillespie, Dave Meltzer | 4:35 |
| 11. | "Relativity" | 7:29 | |
| 12. | "Walking with the Beast" | 3:58 | |
| 13. | "It's Alright, It's OK" | 5:09 | |
| Total length: | 68:28 | ||
- Extra Light
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Nothing Is Real / Nothing Is Unreal" | 5:07 | |
| 2. | "Requiem for the Russian Tea Rooms" | 3:14 | |
| 3. | "Running Out of Time" | 2:37 | |
| 4. | "Worm Tamer" | Jim Sclavunos, Martyn P. Casey, Nick Cave, Warren Ellis | 5:37 |
| 5. | "Theme from More Light" | 2:29 | |
| 6. | "2013 (Weatherall remix)" | 8:20 | |
| Total length: | 27:24 | ||
Personnel edit
- Primal Scream
- Bobby Gillespie – vocals, tambourine, handclaps, mellotron, electric piano, drums, percussion
- Andrew Innes – electric, acoustic, and twelve-string guitars, bass guitar, six-string bass, keyboards, electric sitar, synthesizer, autoharp, dulcimer, drones
- Martin Duffy – keyboards
- Darrin Mooney – drums, percussion
- Additional personnel
- Fred Adams – trumpet
- Marshall Allen – alto saxophone
- Jay Bellerose – drums
- Nicky Brown – vocal arrangements
- Barrie Cadogan – guitar, backing vocals
- Davey Chegwidden – drums, guiro, percussion, tom-toms
- Keefus Cianca – bells, piano
- Matthew Cooper – design
- Rich Costey – mixing
- Jason Falkner – bass guitar, six-string bass, guitar, synthesizer, engineer
- Geo Gabriel – backing vocals
- Michael Harris – engineering
- Sharlene Hector – backing vocals
- David Henderson – guitar
- Max Heyes – engineering
- David Holmes – engineering, producer
- Jim Hunt – saxophone, flute
- Eric Islip – engineering
- Woody Jackson – engineering, guitar, orchestration
- Sam Johnston – engineering
- Chris Kasych – Pro-Tools
- Jim Lambie – sleeve art
- Brendan Lynch – production, engineering, mixing
- Marco Nelson – bass guitar
- Niall O'Brien – photography
- Ladonna Harley Peters – background vocals
- Robert Plant – backing vocals
- Noel Scott – alto saxophone, tenor saxophone
- Kevin Shields – guitar
- Todd Simon – trumpet
- Paul Stanborough – engineering
- Mark Stewart – backing vocals, whistle
- Steve Tavaglione – alto saxophone, tenor saxophone
- Danny Ray Thompson – baritone saxophone
- Valente Torrez – engineering
- Masa Tsuzki – engineering
- The Unloved – backing vocals
- Tracy Wannomae – alto saxophone
References edit
- ^ Hilleary, Mike (23 April 2013). "Primal Scream Set U.S. Release Date For New Album, "More Light"". Under The Radar Magazine.
- ^ Daly, Rhian (8 May 2013). "Primal Scream stream second part of new album 'More Light'". NME. Archived from the original on 12 August 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
- ^ Barton, Geoff (4 June 2013). . Classic Rock Magazine. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
- ^ Zap2it (11 October 2013). . Blog.zap2it.com. Archived from the original on 28 November 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Thomson, Graeme (June 2013). . Uncut (193): 66–67. ISSN 1368-0722. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
- ^ ""Like a portrait of someone in a bad situation": An interview with Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie". 21 October 2013.
- ^ "More Light by Primal Scream reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
- ^ a b "Reviews for More Light by Primal Scream". Metacritic. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "More Light – Primal Scream". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
- ^ Zaleski, Annie (18 June 2013). "Primal Scream: More Light". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
- ^ Hann, Michael (9 May 2013). "Primal Scream: More Light – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
- ^ Gill, Andy (10 May 2013). "Album review: Primal Scream, More Light (First International)". The Independent.
- ^ Wilson, Joe (June 2013). "Look on the bright side: Bobby Gillespie's men diagnose social ills in order to transcend them on 70-minute, double disc tenth LP". Mojo (235): 82. ISSN 1351-0193.
- ^ Beaumont, Mark (7 May 2013). . NME. Archived from the original on 12 May 2013. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
- ^ Berman, Stuart (8 May 2013). "Primal Scream: More Light". Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
- ^ "Primal Scream: More Light". Q (323): 97. June 2013. ISSN 0955-4955.
- ^ Gross, Joe (15 July 2013). "More Light". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
- ^ McCormick, Neil (11 May 2013). "Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie interview: 'drugs put my life in chaos'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
External links edit
- More Light at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)