Miki and Emma, the two met at school at North London Polytechnic, again share songwriting duties, each contributing a half-dozen songs. Emma's "500," a splendid piece of bubblegum pop, is the album's most lasting track. The movement away from the ethereal sounds on Gala and '92's Spooky (both of which were produced by Cocteau Twin Robin Guthrie, except for one of the compiled EPs on Gala) continues on Lovelife, which is in essence a more mature and more accessible album than anything Lush, which also includes drummer Chris Acland and bassist Phil King, has done before.

As Miki explained this progression, "It's weird because I think we actually did everything topsy-turvy, because the first album that we made properly, which was Spooky, was such a studio album, no amps, just loads of effects. A lot of people go the other way: they sort of do what they sound like and then go into the studio experimentation as they get into later albums. [On Lovelife], we were trying to get back to the band's original sound."

In some ways, Lush's sound on each record, including their last album, Split, produced by Mike Hedges has been a result of the whims of the record's producer. Pete Bartlett, Lush's longtime soundman, co-produced the latest album with the band (he also produced the most recent Kitchens of Distinction effort), and they seem to have found a fit with him.

"We've gotten to the point where we really want to just make the record we want to make," Emma said, "Just go into the studio and be comfortable with the person."

"Also, going into making this record," Miki concurred, "we did know how we wanted the songs to sound, it was just a matter of finding someone who could achieve that. We didn't want a producer who was gonna come on with a completely different sound."

And don't even get them started on corporate producers...

I sensed a feeling of the band having been burnt or misrepresented by past producers, who may have, it seems, given Lush a trademark sound they perhaps never fully intended. Nonetheless, the departure on Lovelife was no mistake; "We certainly didn't think we were gonna make another Spooky with this record," Miki explained, "I mean, we did want it to be much more clear and succinct." Noting the end of the shoegazer era, Emma said, "I think we'd come to the end of the line with all that effected sound. We just wanted to experiment in a different way with instruments andnatural sounds."