LSD is the upcoming[4] sixth and final studio album by the English rock band Cardiacs. Recording began following lineup changes, with the single "Ditzy Scene" released by Org Records in 2007 to tease the upcoming double album. It was due to be released in October 2008, promoted by singles in August and November, an autumn tour, a radio session with Marc Riley and a reissue of the concert filmAll That Glitters Is a Mares Nest (1992). Production was indefinitely postponed after frontman Tim Smith had a cardiac arrest and stroke on 25 June 2008 leaving him unable to play or provide vocals.
Fundraiser gigs, namely charity concerts entitled "The Alphabet Business Convention", were arranged and tribute albums were recorded to aid Smith in rehabilitation, and to help him to complete work on the album and other musical projects. He died on 21 July 2020 of what was deemed to be another heart attack. The band released "Vermin Mangle", which was intended to be the final track of LSD, on 1 September 2020 to mark his funeral. Originating from Smith's solo performances in 2000 and 2006, it was the first release of new Cardiacs material since "Ditzy Scene", and featured Smith on vocals. Because of its history, the album became the subject of speculation and many apocryphal stories.[5]
In 2024, Tim Smith's brother Jim revealed that work on LSD had continued during Tim's illness and after his death, reaching the mixing phase of recording.[6][7]
Background and recording
1999-2000: Abandoned follow-up to Guns
Cardiacs performing in 2005
In October 2005, Smith told questioner Rob Aird that the band had been working on a follow-up album to Guns (1999) from "about 1999–2000".[8] Smith also said that "things got broken and we couldn't finish the album", explaining: "I won't re-record things once they have been started because too much of the atmosphere and god knows what else is lost."[8] Smith hinted that the band "might put it out one day as it was left" but confirmed they had moved on to new tracks.[8][a] A track from the unreleased album called "Faster Than Snakes with a Ball and a Chain" appeared on Greatest Hits (2002).[10][5][b]
2003-2008: Initial recording
Following the release of Greatest Hits, several changes occurred within the Cardiacs lineup. Guitarist Jon Poole was replaced in 2003 by former guitar technicianKavus Torabi, previously known as a founding member of the Cardiacs-influenced The Monsoon Bassoon. In 2004, the band's lineup expanded further to include vocalists Claire Lemmon and Melanie Woods of Sidi Bou Said, Sharron Fortnam of the North Sea Radio Orchestra, and percussionists Cathy Harabaras and Dawn Staple.[10] Smith, Lemmon and Woods had previously worked together when Smith had produced Sidi Bou Said's Bodies album,[12] with Lemmon subsequently providing backing vocals for the song "Dog Like Sparky" on Cardiacs' album Sing to God (1996).[13]
"Ditzy Scene" was the first song written and recorded by the band's new lineup at Smith's own recording studio Apollo 8—located at Tim and Jim Smith's childhood home in Chessington[14]—in Autumn 2007, shortly before the last Cardiacs tour.[15][16][17] Because it was recorded quickly, Torabi had less involvement in the arrangements than for other tracks,[18] although he did write most of the lyrics. By 24 October 2007, Cardiacs were set to release "Ditzy Scene" as a single on 5 November and their first studio album since Guns early the following year.[19][20] The single was heavily pre-ordered, featuring two other new tracks "Gen" and "Made All Up" teasing the LSDdouble album—their second following Sing to God.[21][22][c] The single coincided with a tour.[23] On the tour, Torabi recalled that "The crowds were getting bigger and younger and something was definitely happening", adding that Tim's brother and bass player Jim Smith said "something was in the air, that this might be our time."[24] Cardiacs toured until the winter of 2007.[25]
Cardiacs began further work on LSD following the 2007 tour.[26] Torabi had "never known [Smith] to be as productive as the time [Cardiacs] were making [LSD]."[27] According to Torabi in 2009, the band "came pretty close to completing the recording" and "were so busy on it at the time of Tim's heart attack and subsequent stroke that [Torabi] never bothered to get desk mixes."[28]
In summer 2008, LSD was almost ready and due to be released in October.[29] On 23 June, Cardiacs performed three songs live on Marc Riley's BBC 6 Music radio show.[29] Riley, who confessed a predilection for the band, opined that it was "probably the last time Cardiacs will ever perform."[30][31] Lemmon, Staple and Sharron Fortnam were no longer in the Cardiacs lineup by then.[32][10] There were plans for another session, two new singles and a ten-date November tour.[29] On 6 Music, Tim Smith elaborated that the singles would release in August and November along with a DVDreissue of the concert filmAll That Glitters Is a Mares Nest (1992) in September.[33]
2008-2019: Tim Smith's paralysis, band hiatus, and finishing lyrics
All work on LSD abruptly stopped when Tim Smith was hospitalised on 25 June 2008. Having attended the last night of My Bloody Valentine's comeback residency at the Roundhouse in London, Smith had gone for a drink with former Cardiacs guitarist Bic Hayes before heading off in the early hours to meet friends, subsequently suffering a heart attack and an episode of cerebral anoxia in a north London street, which in turn triggered a major stroke.[34][35][27][10] Smith was treated in intensive care at University College Hospital, but was thought to have had a second stroke in hospital a few days later as he recuperated. He was eventually diagnosed with the rare neurological conditiondystonia, which causes muscles to contract uncontrollably, and was left both paralysed down one side of the body and unable to speak.[34][36][37] Denied movement and speech, Smith was forced to retire from live performances[38][39] and LSD remained unfinished.[40]
Due to Smith's illness, it was thought that LSD would remain a famous lost album.[44] However, Smith was able to oversee the completion of another of his musical projects, the Sea Nymphs' second album, On the Dry Land (2016), after significant progress with recovery.[45] Torabi stated in an interview that LSD was "nearly done but needs vocals and eyebrows", adding that there were talks of people who Smith would approve of adding vocals under his direction.[26] In January 2018, a fundraising drive was launched to help fund Smith's medical bills, initially set at £40,000.[46] The effort was supported by Faith No More founder and bassist Billy Gould, Shane Embury of Napalm Death, Voivod guitarist Dan Mongrain, and Ginger Wildheart.[47] Quickly exceeding the original goal, the JustGiving campaign updated to raise £100,000—enough to provide Smith a year of home care and a chance of recuperation.[48] Later that year, Smith was awarded an honorary degree as Doctor of Music from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.[36][49] There was talk of him moving back to his home full-time and being able to oversee the completion of LSD.[36]
During this new period of Tim's lucidity, Craig Fortnam suggested to Jim Smith that they try to finish LSD, to which Jim accepted, renovating Tim's home studio which had sat unused for 10 years. In this period, Tim's movements were restricted to pointing at letters of the alphabet on a board, making communication incredibly slow, but through this many of the songs on the project that Tim had left unfinished were able to have their lyrics fully finalised. Jim acknowledged in a 2025 interview that the album probably "would have been impossible to finish if Tim hadn't died", since "Tim would have been vehement about what he wanted, but it would have taken so long for him to tell us.”[50]
2020-2025: Death of Tim Smith and subsequent return to recording
On 22 July 2020, Jim Smith announced in a statement on Cardiacs' website that Tim had died the previous night.[51] The news was confirmed by Torabi, Mary Wren from the Alphabet Business Concern, and another band representative.[37] His exact cause of death was initially unconfirmed,[39] but was deemed to be another heart attack.[36][10] Tim Smith's funeral was held on 1 September 2020.[52] The same day, the song "Vermin Mangle", originally planned as the final track on LSD—was released as a free download on the band's Bandcamp page.[53][36][54] It was only played live a few times during Smith's solo performances in 2000 and 2006, with the studio version first shared publicly during Steve Davis' tribute show on Phoenix FM on 30 July.[54] It was their first single and release of new material since "Ditzy Scene" in 2007, featuring the circus, prog and psychedelic instrumentation that drove the band's most classic work. Vermin Mangle features Tim Smith on vocals.[52][54]
Following Tim's death, activity on the album continued. With all the lyrics now complete, Jim would take responsibility of production decisions and album arrangement, working through 2021-2024 to complete it.[50] Shortly after recording had finished, members of the band "past, present, and future" played sold-out shows as part of the tour Sing to Tim in 2024.[6] In a tour interview, Jim Smith confirmed that LSD was in mixing phase and on BBC Radio 6 Music mentioned a tentative release date of April 2025. Smith elaborated that the album had been worked on before and during Tim Smith's illness and after his death, with contributions from many Cardiacs members and associates. Jon Poole explained that Jim Smith had been "the key element" in pushing the album toward completion.[6][7] The final track on the album, "Pet Fezant", which occupies the original place of "Vermin Mangle", was written by Smith’s partner, Emily Jones as “a beautiful elegy, a recognition by Tim’s friends that it was OK for them to let him go, for him to finally leave his suffering physical body behind”.[50]
↑ On the Progressive Ears forum, Kavus Torabi says that the lost follow-up album is apocryphal, though a few songs exist.[9]
↑ Torabi recounts "Faster Than Snakes" being made around the time of Sing to God (1996), clarifying that it was never meant to be released on LSD.[11]
↑ Organ were initially unsure if the tracks would be on the album as they were promised a variety of old and new material and expected another single soon after.[21]
↑ Other tribute albums include The Whole World Window (I and II; 2016 and 2018) produced by Hayes, Singin' to God (2018) by the 180 Gs—a barbershop version of Sing to God, and Casio Cardiacs (2020) by the Gathering Doubt—an EP that reinterprets some of the band's classics in chiptune.[10]
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