Clear Vinyl.
Alan Sparhawk has always been a prolific, versatile musician. . A restless soul eager to explore unfamiliar sonic and psychic terrain. While he is obviously (and rightly) best known for his thirty years in the legendary band Low, a look at Sparhawk's many side projects during that time span shows that he experimented with everything from punk and funk to production work and improvisation. Low themselves have never settled on a particular sound or approach. From their quiet early work, through the massive melodies of their middle period, to the late, lush chaos of their final albums, it's been a journey, creative acts of perpetual becoming. The band has always been a collaboration - a conversation, a romance - between Sparhawk and his wife Mimi Parker, who was co-founder, drummer, co-lead vocalist and the irreplaceable heart of the band. Parker passed away in 2022 after a long battle with cancer. WHITE ROSES, MY GOD is an album borne of grief. You can hear it in the title, but also in tracks like "Heaven," in which Sparhawk poignantly describes the afterlife as "a lonely place when you're alone." You can also feel it in Sparhawk's decision to create this work entirely himself: every note, every lyric, every programmed beat. But it would be simplistic, even foolish, to see grief as the only source or final frontier of this taut, brilliant, provocative and exciting album, whose bold experiments are fed by profound lyrics and driving beats. "Can you feel something here?" asks Sparhawk in "Feel Something." The line repeats over and over, evolving first into "I want to feel something here" and then into "Can you help me feel something here?" - the musical means he has chosen to convey this message - especially the pitch shifter - seem to make it difficult to access what he wants us (and himself) to feel.
