Lush

They left me here on my own

In a nightmare and I just

Can't forgive any more

So I smile and I turn away

The 1992/1993 period represents a golden age for Lush, who, following the unexpected success of their studio debut "Spooky" (not counting the varied debut compilation "Gala", released in 1990), found themselves caught up in a frantic whirlwind: touring non-stop on one hand, and working in the studio from the get-go on the follow-up on the other, in order to honour the commitments made with 4AD. But of course not all that glitters is gold, and even if back then nobody yet spoke of what we now sadly know as burnout, trouble was just around the corner, along with plenty of tension brewing among the members of the quartet.

"Split" isn't the kind of record everyone expects: it's a dark work with an extremely difficult gestation, given the internal friction within the band, and its lyrics carry enormous emotional weight. Recorded in the autumn of 1993, the sophomore album places at the centre of its lyrics themes that were deeply felt and personal for frontwoman Miki Berenyi, such as abandonment, as well as death and family abuse (which she herself suffered as a child at the hands of her paternal grandmother).

Sensing tension within the band right from the start, Bob Mould turned down the job of producing the album, leaving the role vacant. Stepping in as producer was Mike Hedges, a collaborator of major names such as Cure, Bauhaus and Siouxsie And The Banshees. Among the stumbling blocks encountered along the way was an initial final mix that came out flat and lacking in substance, but once again the situation was rescued at the eleventh hour, thanks to a second round of remixing courtesy of the (most holy) hand of Alan Moulder (My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Jesus And Mary Chain).

The album opens with the delicate piano and string textures of the languid ballad "Light From A Dead Star", nomen omen, if you think of the slow decline the band was embarking on, one that would culminate in the death of drummer Chris Acland in 1996, and whose dark elements point straight back to Siouxsie And The Banshees, one of the project's key influences; it's followed by "Kiss Chase", whose lyrics, set against seemingly bright sounds and the harmonized backing vocals of Emma Anderson and Berenyi, conceal the abuse the latter suffered.

Among the central themes, like a (first) bitter omen of what was to come, is also depression, woven into the folky charm of the melancholy closer "When I Die" and into the disarming instrumental interlude of "Desire Lines". Another standout track is the catchy, biting "Hypocrite", a brilliant forerunner of the brief (brit)pop phase that would follow on the next record, "Lovelife" (1996), dominated by fast rhythms and effective guitar riffs.

The band travels across different sonic spectrums, from the noise-pop echoes of "The Invisible Man" and "Blackout", to the indie-rock/pop laced with psychedelia of "Lovelife", the concentric "Undertow" and the dreamy sounds of the lengthy "Never-Never" and "Lit Up", right through to "Starlust", which once again puts the focus on guitar reverbs firmly in shoegaze territory.

Swept up in the rising britpop wave, and for that reason received coolly by critics and audiences of the time, with several subsequent tour dates even being cancelled, only to be fortunately reassessed later on, "Split" marks one of the highest points in Lush's career from a lyrical standpoint, thanks to introspective lyrics blended with a sound that spans a wide range of shades, from dynamic noise-pop to faint hints of ethereal-wave — a blueprint that today, with the latest (umpteenth) resurgence of shoegaze and dream-pop, often hybridized with other genres, sounds more relevant than ever.

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18/05/2025