Alan Sparhawk - White Roses, My God - VINYL LP

Alan Sparhawk has always been a prolific, protean musician. A restless soul eager to explore unfamiliar sonic and psychic terrain. Though he's obviously (and justifiably) best-known for his thirty years as frontman of the legendary band Low, a look at Sparhawk's many side projects across that same span of time shows him experimenting with everything from punk and funk to production work and improvisation. Low itself never settled for a set sound or approach. The band was always a collaboration-a conversation, a romance-between Sparhawk and his wife, Mimi Parker, who was the band's co-founder, drummer, co-lead vocalist, and it's blazing irreplaceable heart. To take the journey from Low's hushed early work, through the tremendous melodies of their middle period, all the way to the late rich chaos of their final albums, is to witness heads, hearts, and spirits in an act of perpetual becoming.Parker passed away in 2022 after a long battle with cancer, and there is no question that WHITE ROSES, MY GOD is a record borne of grief. You can hear it in the title, as well as tracks such as InchHeavenInch, in which Sparhawk describes the afterlife, wrenchingly, as Incha lonely place if you're alone.Inch You can sense it too in Sparhawk's decision to create this thing entirely on his own every note, every lyric, every programmed beat. It would be reductive, even foolish, to see grief as the sole source or the final limit of this taut, brilliant, provocative, thrilling album, whose bold experimentation is powered by profound lyrics and propulsive beats. InchCan you feel something here?Inch Sparhawk asks on InchFeel Something.Inch The line repeats over and over, evolving first into InchI want to feel something hereInch and then InchCan you help me feel something here?Inch Meanwhile the musical means he's chosen to convey this message-especially the pitch-shifter-might seem at first