Intense emotions, flowing in opposite directions, are unleashed when listening to the latest album by Schizophrenic Spacers. On the one hand, it is comforting and energizing to see that we are facing a new delivery of powerful, honest songs that come from the heart, articulated by the Catalan band from their deep knowledge and skilful use of the rock language. In contrast, it saddens and infuriates to think that this is his farewell album, the end of a career that, after overcoming countless obstacles, had acquired a not inconsiderable cruising speed in recent years. But it is what it is, nothing lasts forever and, at least, here we have this “So Long” to make up for part of this goodbye.
Presented on vinyl, with a melancholic cover showing the quartet walking away, the album stands as a coherent and logical continuation of their most recent work. That is to say, it delves into the style that over the years has made them easily recognizable, distancing them from more or less impersonal clones of classic rock bands. In addition, they have recorded again, and there are now four, in the Deltono studios Hendrik Röverthus achieving the same robustness and clarity of sound as in “Gloria” (21), “Now” (19) y “It Better Be Good” (17).
Turning to the songs, we find one side of the album sung in Spanish and the other in English. In the first, they welcome us with “Audience”, a theme in which they invite Miguel Moral of The renegades to sing a duet with Sergio Martos. The instrumental solvency shines, although they recreate in it only what is strictly necessary, while chords with space-rock echoes and a nod to the Arthur Brown of “Fire” put the icing on the cake. The lyrics, included in the inner folder, oscillate between the disappointment of “Al final…”, the weariness of “Parte del pasado” and, in one of the most catchy cuts on the album, the enigmatic leading role of one Samuel Luiz.
In English the texts are in charge of Javier H. Ayensa, a London-based musician who, with his sharp words, propels compositions like “Inside Out”, which is the wildest of the lot, or “Two Wrongs Don’t Make A Right”, which stands out for its vibrant tempo changes. To close, the sad atmosphere of “So Long” Not only does it sound like a farewell, but it is capable of transmitting its own despondency. Ultimately, therefore, “So Long” It is an album that follows the main lines outlined in previous works, but more charged with emotion, as a consequence of the circumstances that surround it. Listening to him, it’s easy to empathize with the Spacers, both for the goodbye itself, and for the conviction that they deserved not only an audience as loyal as the one they had, but also a more mainstream one.