Alan Sparhawk is clearly not a man to let the grass grow beneath his feet. Nor – and clearly comparisons could be drawn with Neil Young or Elvis Costello – is he one content to work just within one genre. While often associated with slowcore or sadcore (and these terms are often used interchangeably), if you prefer, he is a man who can leap and land on his feet.
For thirty years, Sparhawk was the frontman of Low, the Duluth, Minnesota mostly-trio that he formed with his wife, drummer and vocalist Mimi Parker. With Parker’s tragic death from cancer in November 2022, Sparhawk understandably called time on the band. Last year, he released his first solo album in nearly twenty years White Roses, My God, and less than a year later we have With Trampled By Turtles. For those of you not familiar with them, the album is, in fact what it says on the tin: a collaboration with Duluth bluegrass band Trampled By Turtles.
The album was recorded towards the end of 2023 at Pachyderm Studios in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. Alan Sparhawkc ame in towards the end of Trampled by Turtles’ session there, with several songs in development. Some had never worked in Low; others were fresh and waiting for the right setting. For years, both acts had talked about working together, but the talk was never more than hypothetical, until now. Sparhawk has explained about the album and the Duluth connection that ‘there’s a certain vibe that has to do with underdog syndrome, coming from a small town. Some of it is the weird grind and slackness that being at the mercy of Mother Nature puts in you. It humbles you.’ Two songs from last year’s record, ‘Heaven‘ and ‘Get Still‘ reappear here in drastically different form.
From the opening ‘cellos on ‘Stranger‘ it’s clear we are in different territory from last year’s album. Gone are the last two Low albums distortion and the vocoder-heavy solo record. Instead we’re into bluegrass territory, as you probably guessed and it’s an exciting journey. That’s not to say it’s a regular bluegrass album; rather it’s Alan Sparhawk-style Bluegrass in a way that Trampled By Turtles and he make distinctively theirs.
‘Screaming Song‘ is perhaps the centrepiece of the album, as heartbreaking a song as he’s ever recorded (and yes, on a parallel with much of the Things We Lost In the Fire album). It deals with loss and heartbreak in such a way that seems both painful and cathartic, and musically it’s the strongest connection to his most recent works. Never mind reading someone’s diaries; it’s as if you are there as someone watches their wife die and the immediate rush of grief, and it almost feels like you’re intruding (if this sounds melodramatic, you’re going to have to listen to the track). The reworking of ‘Get Still‘ is soothing after this – yet it all flows together wonderfully. Another highlight is ‘Not Broken,’ which features vocals from Hollis, Parker and Sparhawk’s daughter. The combination of her voice (comparable with her late mother’s) with her father, as they sing ‘It’s not broken/I’m not angry,’ is mantra-like in its delivery.
It’s not an entirely bleak album – though it has its moments, there’s a lot of beauty here in its thirty-two minutes. It is further proof of Sparhawk’s songwriting prowess, and like the aforementioned Messrs. Young and Costello, it will be interesting to see what he produces next.
