Something that worked for me in one song once was changing the duration of the notes to leave space between them without changing when they fell. Basically, a staccato attack, which left silence between the beats.
That isn't really space in the same way, but the song wasn't working with the notes coming one after the other like usual. It took the staccato to give it some, I don't know, bounce? That song, by the way, has never really been completely finished. I suppose I should get it out and workshop it here (it was in lyrics once) and finish it off. [makes note to self]
Vicki