Split (Lush album)

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title: "Split (Lush album)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1994-albums", "lush-(band)-albums", "albums-produced-by-mike-hedges", "4ad-albums", "albums-recorded-at-rockfield-studios", "albums-recorded-in-a-home-studio"] topic_path: "arts/music" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split_(Lush_album)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox album"]

Field	Value
name	Split
type	studio
artist	Lush
cover	Split (Lush album) cover art.jpg
released	13 June 1994
recorded	October – December 1993
studio
genre
length	52:06
label	4AD
producer
prev_title	Spooky
prev_year	1992
next_title	Lovelife
next_year	1996
misc	{{Singles
name	Split
type	studio
single1	Hypocrite
single1date	30 May 1994
single2	Desire Lines
single2date	30 May 1994
::

| name = Split | type = studio | artist = Lush | cover = Split (Lush album) cover art.jpg | alt = | released = 13 June 1994 | recorded = October – December 1993 | studio = | genre = | length = 52:06 | label = 4AD | producer = | prev_title = Spooky | prev_year = 1992 | next_title = Lovelife | next_year = 1996 | misc = {{Singles | name = Split | type = studio | single1 = Hypocrite | single1date = 30 May 1994 | single2 = Desire Lines | single2date = 30 May 1994

Split is the second studio album by English rock band Lush, released on 4AD on 13 June 1994 in the United Kingdom and a day later in the US. Unusually, the two singles from the album, "Desire Lines" and "Hypocrite", were both released on the same day: 30 May 1994. Split was reissued by 4AD on CD in July 2001.

Background and recording

Lush chose to work with producer Mike Hedges because they "loved" his work on Sulk by the Associates, A Kiss in the Dreamhouse by Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Seventeen Seconds by the Cure, according to Miki Berenyi. They first recorded at Rockfield in Wales and then mixed at Hedges's house in France, but as Phil King remembered it, "it sounded as flat as a pancake, no dynamics at all". They finally decided to have the entire album remixed by Alan Moulder, because he had already worked with My Bloody Valentine and Ride. Berenyi's verdict was positive, "Alan was brilliant". However, the band members have since described the process of the album's creation as "traumatic" and "agonizing."

Music and lyrics

Stylistically, Split has been described as being in "the space between shoegaze and Britpop, the moonlit zone where guitars and windchimes suddenly had wonderful pop hooks to hang onto." Lyrical themes explored on the album include child abuse, infidelity, voyeurism, and death.

Reception and legacy

*Select*s Roy Wilkinson gave the album a negative review, describing it as "mid-paced stuff, flitting between melancholy and listlessness." The review went on to state, "There's nothing wrong with a dose of heavyweight introspection per se. But a pretty deft touch is needed to translate it movingly to the recording studio."

In a retrospective review, Andy Kellman, writing for AllMusic, was far more positive: "Split touches on most forms of emotional turbulence. Not necessarily a comeback but certainly a legitimizing stunner, the record prevented the band from being lost amidst the bunker of form-over-function dream pop bands. Split shattered every negative aspect of those failed acts with flying colors. A fantastic record within any realm." In 2018, Pitchfork ranked the album at number 27 on its list of "The 30 Best Dream Pop Albums". Staff writer Jeremy D. Larson wrote: "Thanks to the meticulous production of Mike Hedges, Split sounds so luxurious and so powerful, the essential sound of Lush. Berenyi and Anderson’s voices sky together in their clearest, most present harmonies. Songs last no longer than they need to, even the ones that stretch to eight minutes. Split is at once grounded and aloft—fiery, poppy, druggy, and alone."

Track listing

| collapsed = | headline =

| title1 = Light from a Dead Star | writer1 = Miki Berenyi | length1 = 3:15

| title2 = Kiss Chase | writer2 = Berenyi | length2 = 3:17

| title3 = Blackout | writer3 = Emma Anderson | length3 = 3:06

| title4 = Hypocrite | writer4 = Berenyi | length4 = 2:53

| title5 = Lovelife | writer5 = Anderson | length5 = 3:56

| title6 = Desire Lines | writer6 = Anderson | length6 = 7:37

| title7 = The Invisible Man | writer7 = Anderson | length7 = 2:14

| title8 = Undertow | writer8 = Berenyi | length8 = 4:57

| title9 = Never-Never | writer9 = Anderson | length9 = 8:04

| title10 = Lit Up | writer10 = Anderson | length10 = 4:00

| title11 = Starlust | writer11 = | length11 = 4:32

| title12 = When I Die | writer12 = Anderson | length12 = 4:17

Release history

::data[format=table]

Country	Date	Label	Format	Catalogue #
United Kingdom	13 June 1994	4AD	CD	CAD 4011 CD
LP	CAD 4011
Cassette	CAD C 4011
United States	14 June 1994	4AD/Reprise	CD	9 45578-2
Japan	1 July 1994	Nippon Columbia	CD	COCY-78078
Japan	20 March 1996	Nippon Columbia	CD (reissue)	COCY-80093
United Kingdom	2 July 2001	4AD	CD (reissue)	GAD 4011 CD
::

Singles

"Hypocrite" (30 May 1994)
- CD (BAD 4008 CD); 12" vinyl (BAD 4008)
  1. "Hypocrite" – 2:58
  2. "Love at First Sight" – 5:12 (The Gist cover, written by Stuart Moxham)
  3. "Cat's Chorus" – 3:23
  4. "Undertow (Spooky Remix)" – 9:13
- 7" vinyl (AD 4008)
  1. "Hypocrite" – 2:58
  2. "Cat's Chorus" – 3:23
"Desire Lines" (30 May 1994)
- CD (BAD 4010 CD); 12" vinyl (BAD 4010)
  1. "Desire Lines" – 7:29
  2. "White Wood" – 4:14
  3. "Girl's World" – 4:56
  4. "Lovelife (Suga Bullit Remix)" – 8:15
- 7" vinyl (AD 4010)
  1. "Desire Lines" – 7:29
  2. "Girl's World" – 4:56
"When I Die" (promo only, June 1994)
- Radio promo CD (PRO-CD-7048)
  1. "When I Die (Scott Litt Remix)" – 4:20
  2. "Light from a Dead Star (Album Version)" – 3:17
  3. "Lovelife (Album Version)" – 3:57
"Lovelife" (promo only, 1994)
- Radio promo CD (PRO-CD-7092)
  1. "Lovelife (Album Version)" – 3:56
  2. "Lovelife (Suga Bullit Remix Edit)" – 5:28
  3. "Lovelife (Suga Bullit Remix)" – 8:15

Personnel

Personnel credits adapted from the album's liner notes.

Lush

Additional personnel

Chris Bigg – art direction, design
Richard Caldicott – photography
Martin Ditcham – percussion
Mike Hedges – engineering, production
Chris Ludwinski – engineering
Martin McCarrick – string arrangements (6, 12)
Melodie McDaniel – photography
Alan Moulder – mix engineering
Vaughan Oliver – art direction, design
Lance Phillips – engineering
Paul Read – engineering
Audrey Riley – string arrangements (1, 9)
Curtis Schwartz – engineering
Ronen Tal – engineering assistance

Charts

::data[format=table] | Chart (1994) | Peak position | UK Independent Albums (OCC) | US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) | |---|---|---|---| | 2 | | | | | 23 | | | | ::

::data[format=table] | Chart (2023) | Peak position | |---|---| ::

References

Aston, Martin. "Chorus Lines – Lush In Conversation With Martin Aston". [[4AD]].
Pitchfork. (2018-04-16). "The 30 Best Dream Pop Albums".
Kellman, Andy. "Split – Lush". [[AllMusic]].
(24 July 1994). "Lush, 'Split' (Reprise/Warner Bros.)". [[Chicago Sun-Times]].
Romero, Michele. (15 July 1994). "Split".
Fadele, Dele. (11 June 1994). "The Division Belles".
Reyes-Kulkarni, Saby. (3 May 2016). "Lush: Origami".
Collins, Andrew. (July 1994). "Lush: Split".
Evans, Paul. (8 September 1994). "Lush: Split".
Wilkinson, Roy. (July 1994). "Lush: Split".
Watts, Peter. (October 2023). "Lush: Split".
Malins, Steve. (July 1994). "Split Seconds".
(16 April 2018). "The 30 Best Dream Pop Albums".
(1994). "Split". [[4AD]].
(2 July 1994). "Independent Albums".
(2 July 1994). "Heatseekers Albums".

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