When Mark Linkous, musical savant and leader of Richmond, Virginia’s Sparklehorse, took his own life in 2010, fans were devastated. At the time, he had been working with the late Steve Albini in his Chicago studio on new material and had just signed a new deal with Anti- Records. Fans were excited. Then…nothing. Finally, 13 long years later with the help of his brother Matt and nephew and sister-in-law, that final material was released.
Opening track “It Will Never Stop” sounds like Sparklehorse of old, heavily distorted vocals with lots of guitar and effects. It’s great and serves as a bit of a reminder that this isn’t going to be a doom-and-gloom type of farewell record. “Evening Star Supercharger” is the type of gorgeous Linkous song that was always sprinkled on each record. Sounds like it could’ve been a hit in the early 2000’s. Very good triple A radio sheen over the song and helps it come to the fore. “O Child” is an interesting solo track with Mark’s vocals and haunting piano that weaves in an answering machine message from his nephew Spencer. Apparently while digging through tapes, Matt discovered this collage and was taken aback having never known Mark had put it together.
“I Fucked it Up” is a brief, quick rocker that sounds much different than most other material on the record and helps it break away from the other more melancholic material. “Chaos Of The Universe” is another great track and serves as another reminder of how amazing Linkous was at not just recording, but writing and creating beautiful material and then fucking it all up with manipulation and digital tricks. Even a cover of a Robyn Hitchcock song, “Listening To The Higsons” is unrecognizable due to digital trickery but it still sounds good and a throwback to the style of alt rock you don’t tend to hear too much anymore.
Nothing more needs to be said about “Everybody’s Gone to Sleep;” just beautiful and gorgeous. The album’s last two songs are both under two minutes. The first, “Blue” is just Mark solo with a guitar and serves as a fancy little interlude to say farewell to the listener. Like a soft lullaby to say goodnight. The final track, “Stay” is Mark’s farewell to everyone, like a plea to stick around just a bit longer.
If Mark were still here with us, we’d have a lot more music to enjoy but as this is possibly the final batch of material we’ll hear, it’s a damn good way to say farewell. Nothing feels overdone; if there was overdubbing done, it’s hard to tell what was added later which is fine. A wonderful farewell to an unsung musician who never got his due during his lifetime.