Spiritual Machines 2 is the tenth studio album from Canadian alternative rock band Our Lady Peace, a sequel to their 2000 art rock concept album Spiritual Machines.[1][2] The album was produced by Dave Sitek,[1] and released through BMG's Shelter Music Group[3] in the form of a non-fungible token (NFT) on October 29, 2021.[4][5] All 500 NFTs were reported sold out in January 2022.[6] A traditional release of the album happened on January 28[7] and a multi-media tour was scheduled to begin in June 2022.[8]
| Spiritual Machines 2 | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 29, 2021 | |||
| Recorded | 2018–2021 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 40:27 | |||
| Label | Shelter Music Group (BMG) | |||
| Producer | Dave Sitek | |||
| Our Lady Peace chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Spiritual Machines 2 | ||||
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The album, along with its thematic predecessor, is influenced by the 1999 Ray Kurzweil book The Age of Spiritual Machines. Spiritual Machines 2 was inspired by Kurzweil following up in the 2020s on his predictions made in the 1990s. Spoken excerpts voiced by Kurzweil feature in the album, as they did in the original Spiritual Machines album.[1] It is the first Our Lady Peace album to involve the participation of founding member and original guitarist Mike Turner[9][10][11] since Gravity in 2002, and the first studio release to feature Saul Fox on its cover since the original Spiritual Machines album.[11] During the band's mid-2022 tour, Kurzweil and Turner were "projected" into the performance space in real time in the form of hologram-like technology.[8]
Development and overview
editThe album was first announced in August 2020, with an expectation that it would be released around Fall 2021.[12][5] Original artwork for the album was provided by Oli Goldsmith,[13] who also created the album art for the 2000 album.
In June 2021, the band's official account on social media hinted that original co-founder and guitarist Mike Turner would be a featured guest on the album;[14] Turner hadn't been associated with the band since his departure in December 2001, and was instrumental in the conception and development of the original Spiritual Machines album.[15][16] Turner's return was confirmed by Raine Maida in a July 2021 Reddit AMA, and he is listed as a featured guest in the album's track list.[10][9][11] Regarding Turner's return, Maida stated that making Spiritual Machines 2 without Turner wouldn't "be right".[10]
The album's first single "Stop Making Stupid People Famous", featuring Nadya Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot, was released on June 25, 2021.[1][2] The second single, "Future Disease", was released on October 8, 2021.[17]
Track listing
editThe album contains 15 tracks,[11] five of which include excerpts from Ray Kurzweil in a similar vein to what was done on the original Spiritual Machines album.
| No. | Title | Notes | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "RK1.Age of Spiritual Machines" | 0:14 | |
| 2. | "Stop Making Stupid People Famous" (featuring Pussy Riot) | 3:01 | |
| 3. | "Holes" | 3:19 | |
| 4. | "RK2.Consciousness" | 0:29 | |
| 5. | "The Message" | 3:57 | |
| 6. | "Wish You Well" | Follow-up to the song "Are You Sad?" from the original Spiritual Machines.[18] | 4:44 |
| 7. | "RK3.UBI" | 0:22 | |
| 8. | "Future Disease" | 5:19 | |
| 9. | "19 Days" | 3:38 | |
| 10. | "Run" | 2:57 | |
| 11. | "RK4.Escape Velocity" (featuring Emtee) | 1:02 | |
| 12. | "Simulation" | 2:52 | |
| 13. | "Good Die Young" | 3:26 | |
| 14. | "RK5.Turing Test" | 0:16 | |
| 15. | "Temporary Healing" | 4:53 |
Personnel
edit- Duncan Coutts – bass guitar, background vocals
- Raine Maida – vocals, lyricist
- Steve Mazur – guitar, background vocals
- Jason Pierce – drums, percussion
- Mike Turner – guitar, composer (track 11)
- David Andrew Sitek – production, composer
- Ray Kurzweil – narration
- Steve Fallone
- Nadezhda Tolokonnikova – vocals, composer (track 2)
- Matty Green
Tour
editThe band announced a tour which began in Victoria, Canada, on June 6, 2022. Billed as The Wonderful Future Theatrical Experience, the tour includes Kurzweil speaking and interacting in real time through a video link, who along with founding guitarist Mike Turner, is projected on stage using holography, and with Mike Turner making an appearance with the band on select locations throughout the tour. The hologram technology is rendered by ARHT Media, a video company with headquarters in Toronto. Maida said that the band was interested in "pushing the boundaries of what a live show is".[8]
References
edit- ^ a b c d White, Logan (June 25, 2021). "Our Lady Peace's Raine Maida Talks New Single + 'Spiritual Machines II'". Substream Magazine. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
- ^ a b Eves, Tina (June 25, 2021). "Our Lady Peace Offer Reality Check with 'Stop Making Stupid People Famous'". American Songwriter. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
- ^ @sheltermusicgrp (June 25, 2021). "Our Lady Peace's new single "Stop Making Stupid People Famous" was released on Shelter Records/BMG!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ LaPierre, Megan (October 25, 2021). "Our Lady Peace's 'Spiritual Machines 2' Will Be Released as an NFT". Exclaim.ca. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
- ^ a b "OUR LADY PEACE RELEASES 20TH ANNIVERSARY REMASTERED EDITION OF DOUBLE-PLATINUM CERTIFIED ALBUM SPIRITUAL MACHINES". Sony Music's sonymusic.ca. November 3, 2020. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
- ^ "OUR LADY PEACE Sell Out All 500 NFTs of Spiritual Machines II". Business Wire. Business Wire. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
- ^ "Our Lady Peace Successfully Evolve Their Sound on 'Spiritual Machines 2'". PopMatters. February 4, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
- ^ a b c Zillich, Tom (April 13, 2022). "Holograms help power Our Lady Peace tour that includes Vancouver concert this spring". Coast Mountain News. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
- ^ a b @ourladypeace (July 30, 2021). ".@rainemaida is doing a live AMA right now. Head to https://redd.it/ouooq6 to ask your questions!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ a b c Maida, Raine (July 30, 2021). "I'm Raine Maida, lead singer for Our Lady Peace and Chief Product Officer ＆ EVP @ S!NG app here to answer all your questions. AMA". Reddit.com. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
Did you mean Mike Turner . Yes we speak and Spiritual Machines 2 would've [sic] be right without Mike involved.
- ^ a b c d Bell, Kaelen (July 30, 2021). "Our Lady Peace Detail 'Spiritual Machines 2'". Exclaim.ca. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
- ^ Our Lady Peace | It's Real with Jordan and Demi. Youtube. June 25, 2021. Event occurs at 25 mins, 11 sec. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
I don't have a date, but I think it's like end of September, right at the beginning of October [2021] kind of thing.
- ^ @goldsmith_oli (June 25, 2021). "New Our Lady Peace Single (Stop Making Stupid People Famous) with artwork by Oli Goldsmith" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Official Our Lady Peace account on Facebook". Facebook.com. 2021-06-01. Retrieved 2021-06-01.
- ^ Bento, Debbie ""Our Lady Peace Explain Concept Of Spiritual Machines"". Archived from the original on October 4, 2003. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) Chartattack.com November 9, 2000. Retrieved 2009-11-16 - ^ Chiu, Ellen ""OLP Are Spiritual Machines"". Archived from the original on October 4, 2003. Retrieved February 26, 2017.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) Chartattack.com October 25, 2000. Retrieved 2009-11-16 - ^ @ourladypeace (October 9, 2021). "Future Disease, the latest track from Spiritual Machines II is out now" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Maida, Raine (July 30, 2021). "I'm Raine Maida, lead singer for Our Lady Peace and Chief Product Officer ＆ EVP @ S!NG app here to answer all your questions. AMA". Reddit.com. Retrieved August 7, 2021.