Make no mistake, Christopher Owens has led an interesting life. He spent much of his childhood traveling, as a member of Children of God, before finding his way to Amarillo, Texas, as a 16-year-old and then later making a home in San Francisco. It was there that he paired up with JR White to form Girls and make reverb-drenched ethereal pop music. But last summer Owens announced he was leaving the band to do his own thing, which turned out to be his solo debut, Lysandre (stream it below). As the LP is named after a French girl Owens once fell in love with several years ago, it should be no surprise that it’s filled with ambitious, intimate, revealing songs. “There’s a certain amount of storytelling with this album,” Owens tells Spiritualized frontman J. Spacemanin Interview, “and I felt like I had to make it quite specific to the person and to what actually happened.” Watch him, above, discussing the album and performing for Pitchfork TV and then go see him live at The Bowery Ballroom on Monday and Tuesday.
The English space-rock band Spiritualized has been making lush, atmospheric music since its debut, Lazer Guided Melodies, came out in 1992. Despite several personnel changes over the years, the group—guided by frontman Jason Pierce (J. Spaceman)—has continued to produce quality albums, including the much acclaimed Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space, featuring a gospel choir (plus Dr. John on one track), which they played in full as part of SPIN25 at Radio City Music Hall in 2010. Well, now Spiritualized (above performing “On Fire,” “Sweet Talk” and “You Lie You Cheat” on Later with Jools Holland) is back with another terrific, ambitious album, Sweet Heart Sweet Light. So do yourself a favor and see them on Monday night at Terminal 5. Otherwise it will be one of those shows you can’t believe you missed.
