SPOON – ‘They Want My Soul’ vinyl reissue released

Following 2010’s Transference, Spoon was feeling spent. At that point, the band had released seven albums in 14 years while touring relentlessly and becoming an institution known for its minimalist grooves, jagged swagger, and superhuman level of quality control. But Transference, the follow-up to their 2007 breakout Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, was marked by a dubby mysteriousness that made it a harder sell for the masses that tuned-in to their horn-laden hit, ‘The Underdog.’ Even though Transference was their highest-charting album to date, reaching No. 4, the overall reaction to it was relatively muted. A subsequent year of touring left the group, led by frontman Britt Daniel and drummer Jim Eno, longing for a much-needed break.

Which isn’t to say they went on an extended vacation. Daniel started a new band, Divine Fits, alongside Wolf Parade’s Dan Boeckner, while Eno produced records for dance-punks !!! and heartland rockers Heartless Bastards. Reenergized by these outside projects, Spoon reconvened in 2013 to start work on what would become ‘They Want My Soul.’ After fully exploring a gritty, self-produced path with ‘Transference,’ they were eager to bring in producers known for their own styles and big sounds: Half of the album was recorded with Joe Chiccarelli, a Grammy winner who had worked with the Strokes and the White Stripes, while Dave Fridmann, the visionary behind records by the Flaming Lips, MGMT, and Low, collaborated with the group on the other half.

On paper, Spoon’s team-up with Fridmann—known for his maximalist, psychedelic bent—may have seemed like an odd fit, but their pairing proved to be particularly fruitful. Working in close quarters at Fridmann’s Tarbox Road Studios in snowy upstate New York, they recorded tracks including ‘Rent I Pay,’ the album’s strutting opening track and first single, and ‘Inside Out,’ which had the band trying out a meditative sound they had never really attempted before. The stunning ballad was highlighted by glistening keyboard solos courtesy of new band member Alex Fischel, who played with Daniel in Divine Fits. Spoon notably drew inspiration for ‘Inside Out’’s punchy beat and harpsichord synth tones from an unlikely source—Dr. Dre —and the track is now Spoon’s most popular on Spotify, nearing 100 million plays. Meanwhile, Fischel remains integral to the modern Spoon sound to this day.

On a purely sonic level, They Want My Soul, which also peaked at No. 4 on the charts, may be the most lustrous album Spoon have ever made. So it’s especially enlightening to hear the rough-and-ready demos included in this deluxe edition. Daniel recorded some of these early versions on his own at his home studio, and a few were laid down with the full band at Eno’s Public Hi-Fi studio in Spoon’s hometown of Austin, Texas.

Daniel’s solo piano version of ‘Inside Out’is a revelation, the song’s tender core fully intact. Across this ‘More Soul Edition,’ it’s thrilling to hear the evolution of ‘Do You,’ which has stayed a staple of Spoon’s live sets over the last decade, from a lonely strummer called ‘The Way Love Comes’ to a cymbal-crashing barnburner to the svelte single fans know and love. The demo of the album’s title track, a tongue-in-cheek rocker aimed at those trying to steal some of Daniel’s mojo, includes a few newly unearthed lines that rank among the songwriter’s funniest: “Nice young men on college quads/Sad cops in police squads/I’m not bragging I’m just saying, they want my soul!” These nascent takes, several of which include entire verses that were eventually rewritten, also reveal Daniel’s restlessness as a lyricist, always looking for a more potent turn of phrase to make a song burrow into the listener’s head.

It’s one thing for a band to last a long time. But it’s something completely different—and inordinately more difficult—for a band to make very good records for a long time. Spoon is one of those bands. How do they do it? By maintaining dignity in a world hellbent on sucking it out of each and every one of us. By being unafraid to introduce new voices and creative expressions in their work, while never taking a corny left turn just for the sake of it. By knowing when they need to stop and recharge—and when to come back with force. They make it all look easy.

But ‘They Want My Soul: Deluxe More Soul Edition’ shows the hard work it takes to achieve greatness every damn time.