#437: Primal Scream, ‘Screamadelica’

SIRE, 1991

I keep talking to people this month who are also in this strange little purgatory between their old life and their new life. Whether it is a divorce, separation, new job, or new realizations about one’s sexual orientation and identity, we all seem to be in these little moments that require extreme trust in the unknown.

If there ever was an album that played the soundtrack of this limbo, it is Screamadelica. 

Primal Scream is a Scottish group that started in rock/pop. Their early albums had a Beatles-y vibe. Then all of a sudden, in the late 80s, it seemed like they frequented the local discotheque. Who knows about the inner workings of their evening plans, but they jumped headfirst into the dance music scene and created an album that remains a pillar of that club music period.

None of their original charm was lost in the shift. Instead, this album blends all parts of their formal musical identity with teases of the places they intended to sonically explore. 

As we move into our next phases, we must not let go of all the things that made us whole before. We can carry them over into our next phase. Maybe this next era will be a big pillar in the documentary of our lives. 

In the meantime, what best helps me as I sit in limbo is thinking about the little sensory things that make this world charming: 

• The wet nose of a dog that nuzzles into your face

• Licking ice cream on a teeny-tiny cone 

• Tubing down a very slow and lazy creek in the hot sun 

• Walking in shoes that perfectly fit

• The ends of my hair right after I get a haircut

• The smell of BBQ in the neighborhood 

• Watching squirrels chase each other 

• Secret tan lines on my own body and on the bodies around me

Please, as a favor to me, comment with your little delights. I quite frankly cannot wait to read them. As life continues to change, it’s these little things that remain constant.