How Kevin Shields became “possessed” to write My Bloody Valentine album ‘Loveless’
There are a few records in the world that just seem to define an epoch and a genre. When it comes to the sound of shoegaze, it is difficult to look past the My Bloody Valentine Loveless album. It’s a record that is constantly referred to, both within shoegaze and alternative rock, and beyond into the frontiers of genres outside of guitar-based music.
Loveless dropped in 1991, after a lengthy period of production that pretty much sent Creation Records into bankruptcy. Guitarist and vocalist Kevin Shields spent nearly two years creating the legendary record, during which time he experimented with alternate guitar tunings and paid close attention to finding precise EQs to give the album its unique sound.
“When I started [the band], people didn’t seem to care about it too much, and that was the spirit I tried to keep when finishing it over the last few years,” Shield said. “I knew a lot of people who loved Loveless were going to hate some of this stuff because it doesn’t bring you to the same place, and that felt quite freeing.”
He added, “But I have to admit a reality does kick in over time, too. I could’ve tried to completely overshadow [Loveless] with this huge, expansive, double-album masterpiece, but that seemed really unattractive because it would mean I wasn’t making music for the sake of music but rather making music in the context of other music. At the same time, it doesn’t mean I’m not going to try and do that someday.”
Production of Loveless began in 1989, and Creation Records thought it would take just a matter of weeks to finish. But Shields and the band persistently moved studios to find the perfect sound, and though this would run the costs to an eye-watering level, Shield’s need for perfection would be what led to him creating one of the finest alternative rock albums ever conceived.
“Because I wasn’t copying an idea, and it just came from somewhere inside me, it felt like a birth of something that most people didn’t understand at the time,” Shields said. “A lot of what the so-called shoegazing bands that came after us were doing was significantly different in mood, intention, and attitude, with just the superficial common elements of noisy guitars, soft vocals, and slightly rhythmic drums.”
“The real quality of it, which was then expanded and realized with Loveless, was something that felt like it just came through me like I was completely possessed by something,” Shields added. “I still feel that with the stuff we’ve just done, and it’s something that takes time to really fall into people’s consciousness.”
