Two Decades in the Making

English rock band (although the term "rock" is selling them short), Cardiacs have been around since 1977 with albums and EPs being released throughout the 1980s and 90s. By the time I became aware of them, in the early 2000s their output had largely dried up.

In 2008 singer Tim Smith suffered a heart attack and stroke. Over the course of the following decade, he focused on his recovery, before ultimately passing from a second heart attack in 2020.

Throughout the 2010s, the rest of the band were always up to something. Their music would be added to Spotify, and then pulled, and then re-added. Albums would be available on their Alphabet Business Concern website (now cardiacs.net) periodically, and then there were some gigs, featuring a host of different vocalists. Most of which were created as fundraisers to help pay for Tim's care and convalescence. One of those new singers was Cardiacs superfan Mike Vennart, previously of Oceansize, co-founder of Empire State Bastard, and part of Biffy Clyro's touring band.

Earlier this year, Cardiacs restarted work on the songs that Tim had been working on before his initial health scare. Led by his brother (Cardiacs' bassist) Jim, and guitarist Kavus Torabi, Cardiacs' latest album, LSD started to come back to life.

And then Mike Vennart was announced the new lead singer of Cardiacs.

All of which brings us to today, and the release of Cardiacs' latest album, LSD. An album that's been in the pipeline since Tim started work on it back in the 2000s.

Although many years have passed since their original conception, the songs sound shiny and new yet are still instantly identifiable as the work of Tim Smith.

Posthumous LP of the Week: Cardiacs’ LSD, The Quietus

It's great, you should go listen to it.