Split (Lush album)

Last updated

Split
Split (Lush album) cover art.jpg
Studio album by
Released13 June 1994
RecordedOctober – December 1993
Studio
Genre
Length52:06
Label 4AD
Producer
Lush chronology
Spooky
(1992)
Split
(1994)
Lovelife
(1996)
Singles from Split
  1. "Hypocrite"
    Released: 30 May 1994
  2. "Desire Lines"
    Released: 30 May 1994

Split is the second studio album by English rock band Lush, released on 4AD on 13 June 1994 in the United Kingdom and a day later in the US. Unusually, the two singles from the album, "Desire Lines" and "Hypocrite", were both released on the same day: 30 May 1994. Split was reissued by 4AD on CD in July 2001.

Contents

Background and recording

Lush chose to work with producer Mike Hedges because they "loved" his work on Sulk by the Associates, A Kiss in the Dreamhouse by Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Seventeen Seconds by the Cure, according to Miki Berenyi. [1] They first recorded at Rockfield in Wales and then mixed at Hedges's house in France, but as Phil King remembered it, "it sounded as flat as a pancake, no dynamics at all". [1] They finally decided to have the entire album remixed by Alan Moulder, because he had already worked with My Bloody Valentine and Ride. Berenyi's verdict was positive, "Alan was brilliant". [1] However, the band members have since described the process of the album's creation as "traumatic" and "agonizing." [2]

Music and lyrics

Stylistically, Split has been described as being in "the space between shoegaze and Britpop, the moonlit zone where guitars and windchimes suddenly had wonderful pop hooks to hang onto." Lyrical themes explored on the album include child abuse, infidelity, voyeurism, and death. [2]

Reception and legacy

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [3]
Chicago Sun-Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [4]
Entertainment Weekly B+ [5]
NME 6/10 [6]
Pitchfork 8.2/10 [7]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [8]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [9]
Select 2/5 [10]
Uncut 9/10 [11]
Vox 8/10 [12]

Select 's Roy Wilkinson gave the album a negative review, describing it as "mid-paced stuff, flitting between melancholy and listlessness." [10] The review went on to state, "There's nothing wrong with a dose of heavyweight introspection per se. But a pretty deft touch is needed to translate it movingly to the recording studio." [10]

In a retrospective review, Andy Kellman, writing for AllMusic, was far more positive: "Split touches on most forms of emotional turbulence. Not necessarily a comeback but certainly a legitimizing stunner, the record prevented the band from being lost amidst the bunker of form-over-function dream pop bands. Split shattered every negative aspect of those failed acts with flying colors. A fantastic record within any realm." [3] In 2018, Pitchfork ranked the album at number 27 on its list of "The 30 Best Dream Pop Albums". Staff writer Jeremy D. Larson wrote: "Thanks to the meticulous production of Mike Hedges, Split sounds so luxurious and so powerful, the essential sound of Lush. Berenyi and Anderson’s voices sky together in their clearest, most present harmonies. Songs last no longer than they need to, even the ones that stretch to eight minutes. Split is at once grounded and aloft—fiery, poppy, druggy, and alone." [13]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Light from a Dead Star" Miki Berenyi 3:15
2."Kiss Chase"Berenyi3:17
3."Blackout" Emma Anderson 3:06
4."Hypocrite"Berenyi2:53
5."Lovelife"Anderson3:56
6."Desire Lines"Anderson7:37
7."The Invisible Man"Anderson2:14
8."Undertow"Berenyi4:57
9."Never-Never"Anderson8:04
10."Lit Up"Anderson4:00
11."Starlust"
  • Anderson
  • Berenyi
4:32
12."When I Die"Anderson4:17

Release history

CountryDateLabelFormatCatalogue #
United Kingdom13 June 1994 4AD CDCAD 4011 CD
LPCAD 4011
CassetteCAD C 4011
United States14 June 19944AD/Reprise CD9 45578-2
Japan1 July 1994Nippon ColumbiaCDCOCY-78078
Japan20 March 1996Nippon ColumbiaCD (reissue)COCY-80093
United Kingdom2 July 20014ADCD (reissue)GAD 4011 CD

Singles

Personnel

Personnel credits adapted from the album's liner notes. [14]

Lush

Additional personnel

Charts

Chart (1994)Peak
position
Scottish Albums (OCC) [15] 76
UK Albums (OCC) [16] 19
UK Independent Albums (OCC) [17] 2
US Billboard 200 [18] 195
US Heatseekers Albums ( Billboard ) [19] 23
Chart (2023)Peak
position
Scottish Albums (OCC) [20] 53

References

  1. 1 2 3 Aston, Martin. "Chorus Lines – Lush In Conversation With Martin Aston". 4AD . Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  2. 1 2 Pitchfork (16 April 2018). "The 30 Best Dream Pop Albums". Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
  3. 1 2 Kellman, Andy. "Split – Lush". AllMusic . Retrieved 26 August 2009.
  4. "Lush, 'Split' (Reprise/Warner Bros.)" . Chicago Sun-Times . 24 July 1994. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  5. Romero, Michele (15 July 1994). "Split". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on 22 February 2024. Retrieved 26 August 2009.
  6. Fadele, Dele (11 June 1994). "The Division Belles". NME . p. 32. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  7. Reyes-Kulkarni, Saby (3 May 2016). "Lush: Origami". Pitchfork . Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  8. Collins, Andrew (July 1994). "Lush: Split". Q . No. 94.
  9. Evans, Paul (8 September 1994). "Lush: Split". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on 29 June 2007. Retrieved 26 August 2009.
  10. 1 2 3 Wilkinson, Roy (July 1994). "Lush: Split". Select . No. 49. p. 84.
  11. Watts, Peter (October 2023). "Lush: Split". Uncut . No. 317. p. 48.
  12. Malins, Steve (July 1994). "Split Seconds". Vox . No. 46. p. 104.
  13. "The 30 Best Dream Pop Albums". Pitchfork . 16 April 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  14. Split (liner notes). Lush. 4AD. 1994. CAD 4011 CD.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  15. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  16. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  17. "Independent Albums". Music Week . 2 July 1994. p. 20.
  18. "Billboard 200™". Billboard . 2 July 1994. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  19. "Heatseekers Albums". Billboard . 2 July 1994. Archived from the original on 20 June 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
  20. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 31 May 2025.