Perennial glam rock favorites Spacehog have announced the release of their first album since 2001, As It Is On Earth. It will be released April 16th on their own label, Hog Space Records. The album was recorded over two years in Brooklyn with producer Bryce Goggin, who also was behind the console for Resident Alien and The Chinese Album.
As It Is On Earth features 11 original Spacehog songs and kicks off with the piano-driven, moody “Deceit,” which features a sweeping melody and the haunting vocals of singer and bassist Royston Langdon. The second song on the album, “Love is A Curious Thing,” begins with Jonny Cragg’s pounding bass drum and the chorus rises with a dark, pseudo feel-good, sing-along vibe as Langdon sings, “Love is a curious thing, but I fall, fall, fall for the curious thing.”
The album is rounded out with “Oh, Dinosaur,” Langdon’s ode to growing pains; “Sunset Boulevard,” an up-tempo song of lost love with Los Angeles serving as the setting and “Glad to Know,” which made its world premiere on Rolling Stone.com in January. The music magazine cheers, “it's a rollicking rocker reminiscent of Queen with its soft, piano plunked verse and soaring chorus, while last lick of Richard Steel's guitar solo is a canny skip up the fretboard reminiscent of Brian May.”
In a recent interview, Landgon spoke about the creation of As It Is On Earth. “The subject matter changed. I supposed I’ve matured … I’m a different person than I was when I was 21 when I started. Musically, the fundamentals are the same as they were on ‘Resident Alien.’ This record feels like a much more honest look at who we are now. That’s what we strived to do on every record. It’s a little piece of the history of where we are. Everyone’s changed — through relationships, etc. It’s uniquely ours and this is the medium in which we tell.”
On February 1, Spacehog announced they would partner with Pledge Music to raise money for the self-release of As It Is On Earth. On February 2, the band woke up after playing a sold-out show at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, NJ, to the news that they reached 100 percent of their goal. Royston and Jonny made a video for their Pledge campaign, which includes an acoustic version of “Try To Remember” and information about the new record. They are also partnering with The David Lynch Foundation and will donate 10% of their Pledge proceeds to the foundation.
