The wait is over. All three studio albums by Lush are finally back in print on vinyl, available now.
Built around the songwriting talents of Emma Anderson and Miki Berenyi, Lush successfully defined a myriad of 90s scenes such as shoegaze, dream pop and Britpop before they disbanded in 1998. A much-loved band who briefly reformed in 2016, recent years has seen a new, young audience fall in love with their music after discovering it via TikTok and Spotify. Outside of a lavish Record Store Day career retrospective boxset in 2016, all three studio albums – Spooky (1992), Split (1994) and Lovelife (1996) – have been unavailable on vinyl since the 90s.
With demand high, the band have been working with renowned engineer / producer Kevin Vanbergen to help them remaster their catalogue, starting with their studio albums. Using the original ½” production tapes for source material, Kevin has painstakingly worked on them to create brand new, stunning 24-bit masters that perfectly capture the thrill of the originals. They’ve never sounded so good.
Famously working with 4AD’s inhouse designers v23 on every release, album art has always been central to Lush’s appeal too. For these represses, the first two albums will come housed in their original designs, while Lovelife uses the art from their 2016 boxset to keep 1996’s collectible tracing paper sleeve exclusive to that initial pressing.
For these new presses, all three titles are coming out on both classic black vinyl and ultra-clear vinyl – the latter a one-time press available exclusively via independent stores. CDs will also be available later this year.
With a few EPs and a mini-album (Scar) having set the scene, Spooky is Lush’s 1992 debut studio album. A key text for British indie music after the turn of a decade, it was produced by label mate Robin Guthrie (Cocteau Twins) and features the singles ‘Nothing Natural,’ ‘For Love’ and ‘Superblast!.’
Featuring the singles ‘Desire Lines’ and ‘Hypocrite,’ Split is the second full studio album by Lush. Produced by Mike Hedges – famed for his work on The Cure’s Seventeen Seconds & Siouxsie and the Banshees’s A Kiss in the Dreamhouse – and mixed by Alan Moulder, Split sees the band hit a more direct sound whilst retaining their almost pitch-black feel.
Lush’s final studio album, Lovelife, dealt “Britpop the feminist counterpoint it sorely needed,” (Pitchfork). Produced by Pete Bartlett (Therapy?, Kitchens of Distinction), it features three of the band’s biggest singles in ‘Single Girl,’ ‘Ladykillers’ and ‘500 (Shake Baby Shake),’ with Jarvis Cocker also featured on first-half closer ‘Ciao!’
Purchase Lush – Spooky, Split & Lovelife: https://lush.ffm.to/
Lush – Spooky
A1. Stray
A2. Nothing Natural
A3. Tiny Smiles
A4. Covert
A5. Ocean
A6. For Love
B1. Superblast!
B2. Untogether
B3. Fantasy
B4. Take
B5. Laura
B6. Monochrome
Lush – Split
A1. Light From A Dead Star
A2. Kiss Chase
A3. Blackout
A4. Hypocrite
A5. Lovelife
A6. Desire Lines
A7. The Invisible Man
B1. Undertow
B2. Never-Never
B3. Lit Up
B4. Starlust
B5. When I Die
Lush – Lovelife
A1. Ladykillers
A2. Heavenly Nobodies
A3. 500
A4. I’ve Been Here Before
A5. Papasan
A6. Single Girl
A7. Ciao!
B1. Tralala
B2. Last Night
B3. Runaway
B4. The Childcatcher
B5. Olympia
Lush – Spooky, Split & Lovelife out now
via 4AD / Remote Control Records.
