Black Spring (EP)

Background and recording

Lush had released the mini album Scar and the EPs Mad Love and Sweetness and Light between 1989 and 1990, compiled on Gala in November 1990. A full-length debut album was planned for spring 1991, but the band had only about two and a half songs. Vocalist-guitarist Miki Berenyi said in January 1991 that releasing Sweetness and Light with extra songs left them without material, and they did not want to write an album unless it was a coherent body of work.

By summer 1991, Lush had composed up to 21 new songs and expressed interest in drum machines, sequencers and MIDI. Guitarist Emma Anderson said the band wanted to become more technically minded and create interesting sounds without sounding overproduced. Recording began in September at September Sound in London, with producer Robin Guthrie, who had produced Mad Love. Guthrie used compressors and gates extensively, recording most guitar tracks via DI units rather than microphones.

Berenyi's Mesa Boogie Mark IV combo was recorded in mono, Anderson's in stereo; the band avoided stereo for both due to the amount of delay used.

Lyrics and music

Black Spring contains four songs: "Nothing Natural", a cover of Dennis Wilson's "Lady" retitled "Fallin' in Love", "God's Gift" and "Monochrome". Anderson wrote and composed "Nothing Natural" and "Monochrome" and co-wrote "God's Gift" with Berenyi. The songs were lighter and less punky than earlier Lush releases, but retained moody dreampop trademarks in the lyrics. Described as space-age guitar pop with wistful, hippy harmonies, the songs feature unconventional, constantly changing time signatures developed by Anderson and drummer Chris Acland.

Acland's drum sound changed due to studio experimentation; Guthrie had Acland play into a sequencer from Simmons pads that triggered sampled drum sounds, used on all tracks except cymbals. Acland was initially critical, saying it did not seem natural, but found the process quicker and the result like a really good drum kit. The EP includes a celeste sample and Roland drum machine on "Fallin' in Love", with effects-laden guitar throughout. Berenyi used a Boss CE-2 chorus pedal and other Boss effects; Anderson used a Roland GP-16 multieffects unit.

Packaging and music video

The packaging and artwork for Black Spring were designed by Vaughan Oliver, who had designed all of Lush's previous releases, with photography by Jim Friedman. The 12-inch record pressing includes two obscure messages in the run-out matrix codes: "Lush and Ride at the Enormodrome" on side 1 and "they've got this much talent" on side 2. A promotional music video for "Nothing Natural" was released in 1991. Berenyi called the video an effing nightmare, saying the director had a ludicrous idea of what he wanted the band to look and act like, unrelated to how they were. She explained that Lush had no ideas of their own and in the 1990s the solution was to pay directors to create something MTV would play. According to Berenyi, Nirvana's Kurt Cobain became a Lush fan after seeing the video.

Release and reception

Black Spring was released on 7 October 1991 on 4AD as a 12-inch and CD, later as a digital download. The opening track "Nothing Natural" was issued as the lead single on the same day, with a shortened edit on 7-inch and cassette, and "God's Gift" as the B-side. A US maxi CD single included "God's Gift", "Monochrome" and the full-length EP version of "Nothing Natural". Producer Robin Guthrie had suggested "Monochrome" as the A-side, but 4AD chose "Nothing Natural", believing it superior.

"Nothing Natural" peaked at No. 43 on the UK Singles Chart, and Black Spring reached No. 2 on the UK Independent Singles Chart. In the US, "Nothing Natural" peaked at No. 22 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart. Lush supported the EP with a two-leg national tour, debuting the songs exclusively. The tour began with warm-up shows in Colne and Northampton, then three London dates, followed by eight dates with support from Gallon Drunk.

Before the second leg, bassist Steve Rippon left for personal reasons, with his relationship with the band amicable; he cited the strenuous 1992 schedule. He finished the tour and was replaced by Phil King in December 1991. "Nothing Natural" and "Monochrome" appeared on Lush's debut album Spooky (1992) and on the compilation Ciao! Best of Lush (2001).