Lovelife
Studio album by
Lush
Released5 March 1996
StudioProtocol, London
GenreBritpop
Length45:52
Label4AD
Producer
  • Pete Bartlett
  • Lush
Lush chronology
Split
(1994)		 Lovelife
(1996)		 Ciao! Best of Lush
(2001)
Singles from Lovelife
  1. "Single Girl"
    Released: 8 January 1996
  2. "Ladykillers"
    Released: 26 February 1996
  3. "500 (Shake Baby Shake)"
    Released: 15 July 1996

Lovelife is the fourth and final studio album by English rock band Lush. It was released on 5 March 1996 by 4AD. On Lovelife, the band moved away from their earlier dream pop and shoegazing style and embraced a more Britpop-oriented sound. The album was produced by Pete Bartlett and the band at Protocol Studios in London, and engineered by Giles Hall. Three songs were released as singles: "Single Girl", "Ladykillers", and "500 (Shake Baby Shake)", all of which achieved moderate success on the UK Singles Chart, reaching the top 30 positions. On release, Lovelife reached number eight on the UK Albums Chart.

Background

Jarvis Cocker of Pulp dueted with Lush vocalist Miki Berenyi on the song "Ciao!"—Berenyi had written the song as a duet after Lush drummer Chris Acland jokingly asked to sing a song on the new album.[1] Ultimately, Acland declined and Cocker provided guest vocals.

In 2017, Berenyi revealed via Twitter that the lyrics to the track "Heavenly Nobodies" was about her and a friend's star-struck encounter with Hole frontwoman Courtney Love. She also added that the song was not intended as a dig towards her, and that the riff was inspired by the Monkees and the Kinks.[2]

"Single Girl" proved to be one of the band's largest hits, though the band's discomfort with the more commercial sound of the song almost led to its shelving. Berenyi recalled, "Pete [Bartlett] knew 'Single Girl' was a single right off the bat but says: 'You and Emma seemed almost embarrassed by the idea of commercial success and Emma kept trying to dismiss it as a B-side'…"[3] The video for the song also featured actors from Four Weddings and a Funeral.[4]

"500" was written by Anderson about the Fiat 500, since she had just passed her driver's exam during the writing of the album.[5]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Chicago Tribune[7]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[8]
The Guardian[9]
Los Angeles Times[10]
NME7/10[11]
Pitchfork5.8/10[12]

In 2017, Pitchfork placed Lovelife at number 19 on its list of "The 50 Best Britpop Albums".[13]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Ladykillers"Miki Berenyi3:13
2."Heavenly Nobodies"Berenyi2:59
3."500 (Shake Baby Shake)"Emma Anderson3:30
4."I've Been Here Before"Anderson4:36
5."Papasan"Berenyi2:36
6."Single Girl"Anderson2:35
7."Ciao!" (featuring Jarvis Cocker)Berenyi3:31
8."Tralala"Anderson5:35
9."Last Night"Anderson5:24
10."Runaway"Berenyi3:36
11."The Childcatcher"Berenyi3:17
12."Olympia"Anderson5:04

Release history

Country Date Label Format Catalogue #
United States 5 March 1996 4AD/Reprise CD 9 46170-2
United Kingdom 18 March 1996 4AD CD CAD 6004 CD
LP (clear-coloured) CAD 6004
Japan 20 March 1996 Nippon Columbia CD/bonus 3" CD COZY-27/28

Singles

  • "Single Girl" (8 January 1996[14])
    • CD1 (BAD 6001 CD)
      1. "Single Girl" – 2:36
      2. "Tinkerbell" – 3:06
      3. "Outside World" – 4:05
      4. "Cul de Sac" – 3:39
    • CD2 (BAD D 6001 CD)
      1. "Single Girl" – 2:36
      2. "Pudding" – 3:56
      3. "Demystification" (Zounds cover) – 3:39
      4. "Shut Up" – 3:46
    • 7" vinyl (clear-coloured; AD 6001)
      1. "Single Girl" – 2:36
      2. "Sweetie" – 2:39
  • "Ladykillers" (26 February 1996[15])
    • CD1 (BAD 6002 CD)
      1. "Ladykillers" – 3:14
      2. "Matador" – 3:01
      3. "Ex" – 3:14
      4. "Dear Me (Miki's 8-Track Home Demo)" – 3:06
    • CD2 (BAD D 6002 CD)
      1. "Ladykillers" – 3:14
      2. "Heavenly" – 2:53
      3. "Carmen" – 3:19
      4. "Plums and Oranges" – 6:19
    • 7" vinyl (green-coloured; AD 6002)
      1. "Ladykillers" – 3:14
      2. "I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend" – 3:19 (The Rubinoos cover)
  • "500 (Shake Baby Shake)" (15 July 1996[16])
    • CD1 (BAD 6009 CD)
      1. "500 (Shake Baby Shake) (Single Remix)" – 3:22
      2. "I Have the Moon" – 3:52
      3. "Piledriver" – 3:07
      4. "Olympia (Acoustic Version)" – 3:16
    • CD2 (BAD D 6009 CD)
      1. "500 (Shake Baby Shake) (Single Remix)" – 3:22
      2. "I'd Like to Walk Around in Your Mind" – 2:19 (Vashti Bunyan cover)
      3. "Kiss Chase (Acoustic Version)" – 2:54
      4. "Last Night (Hexadecimal Dub Mix)" – 6:31
    • 7" vinyl (red-coloured; AD 6009)
      1. "500 (Shake Baby Shake) (Single Remix)" – 3:22
      2. "I Have the Moon" – 3:52
  • "Last Night" (PROMO ONLY, January 1996)
    • Radio promo CD (PRO-CD-8034)
      1. "Last Night (Latent Power Mix)" – 5:25
      2. "Undertow (Spooky Remix)" – 9:13
      3. "Last Night (Darkest Hour Mix)" – 4:58
      4. "Lovelife (Suga Bullit Remix)" – 8:17
      5. "Last Night (Hexadecimal Dub Mix)" – 6:31
      6. "Ladykillers (Demo – Ruff Mix '95)" – 3:12

Personnel

Personnel credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[17]

Lush

Additional musicians

  • Pete Bartlett – handclaps (1), drip sounds (5), piano (8), additional guitars
  • Jarvis Cocker – vocals (7)
  • Sue Dench – viola (4, 8, 9, 12)
  • Terry Edwards - trumpet (4, 12)
  • Dan Goodwin – percussion
  • Kate Holmes – flute (12)
  • Mike Kearsey – trombone (4, 12)
  • Liam Molloy – handclaps (1)
  • Leo Payne – violin (4, 8, 9, 12)
  • Audrey Riley – cello, string arrangements (4, 8, 9, 12)
  • Melissa Thompson – spoken vocals (9)
  • Chris Tombling – violin (4, 8, 9, 12)

Technical

Charts

Chart performance for Lovelife
Chart (1996) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[18] 100
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[19] 41
UK Albums (OCC)[20] 8
US Billboard 200[21] 189
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[22] 11

References

  1. ↑ Perrone, Pierre (21 October 1996). "Obituary: Chris Acland". The Independent. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  2. ↑ "Miki Berenyi on Twitter". Twitter. 24 May 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  3. ↑ Berenyi, Miki. "Pete @fohpete knew Single Girl was a single right off the bat but says: "You and Emma seemed almost embarrassed by the idea of commercial success and Emma kept trying to dismiss it as a B-side"… #TimsTwitterListeningParty". Twitter. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  4. ↑ Berenyi, Miki. "The Single Girl video was excellent fun. We had two actors from Four Weddings & A Funeral (couldn't quite stretch the budget to Hugh Grant/Kristen Scott-Thomas)…". Twitter. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  5. ↑ Berenyi, Miki. "The Single Girl video was excellent fun. We had two actors from Four Weddings & A Funeral (couldn't quite stretch the budget to Hugh Grant/Kristen Scott-Thomas)…". Twitter. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  6. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Lovelife – Lush". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  7. ↑ Webber, Brad (2 May 1996). "Lush: Lovelife (Reprise)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  8. ↑ Woodward, Josef (8 March 1996). "Lovelife". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  9. ↑ Sullivan, Caroline (22 March 1996). "Lush: Lovelife (4AD)". The Guardian.
  10. ↑ Hochman, Steve (10 March 1996). "Lush, 'Lovelife,' 4AD/Reprise". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  11. ↑ Cameron, Keith (16 March 1996). "Romantic Streak Preachers". NME. p. 48. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  12. ↑ Reyes-Kulkarni, Saby (3 May 2016). "Lush: Origami". Pitchfork. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  13. ↑ "The 50 Best Britpop Albums". Pitchfork. 29 March 2017. p. 4. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  14. ↑ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 6 January 1996. p. 21.
  15. ↑ "Lush". Qobuz. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  16. ↑ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. 13 July 1996. p. 27.
  17. ↑ Lovelife (liner notes). Lush. 4AD. 1996. 76974 2080-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  18. ↑ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 172.
  19. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Lush – Lovelife". Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  20. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  21. ↑ "Lush Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  22. ↑ "Lush Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
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