Alan Sparhawk (of Low) - White Roses, My God - 27/09/24

Alan Sparhawk of Low has picked himself up and dusted himself off in the wake of Mimi Parker's passing. His new solo LP 'White Roses, My God' will be out on Sub Pop September 27th.

Here's the first single 'Can U Hear':

Alan had been posting jam sessions on Instagram these past few Fridays where it's just him with a drum machine, bass synth, and pedals for vocal manipulation, so this aesthetic direction doesn't come as a huge surprise if you'd seen those. I imagine it won't resonate with all the Low fans, but I feel like there's a vital energy here and am definitely interested in what the full album will bring.

Very interesting, even if a bit too heavy on the vocal processing. Can't help but wonder how it would sound with his clean vox layered in.
Those last few Low albums are unreal. Very happy he's continuing in some way.

Excellent video too.

most positive thing i can say is ... he's got an acoustic album coming.

Sounds a bit like Cher

  On 7/20/2024 at 9:04 AM, subsub said:

Sounds a bit like Cher

An interviewer said this very thing to him, and he enthusiastically agreed.

  On 7/20/2024 at 9:36 AM, Zephyr_Nova said:

An interviewer said this very thing to him, and he enthusiastically agreed.

Interviewer : "Damn your new single sounds like Cher"

Alan Sparhawk "ah ah that's right !"

It kind of sounds like a heavier take on the kind of sound More Eaze or Alex G are doing when they mess with autotune. Not enough disco vibes to be Cher.

Interview where he talks more about grief and the choices he made for this music:

“The tools I used before no longer work,” he says. “I’m trying to use my voice, but I don’t want to hear my voice, so I needed to find another voice.” He stops, wondering if he is making sense. “It felt like I was stabbing into the unknown, trying to figure things out. I started the machines, messed with them until something resonant happened, and then I started singing. And, sometimes, something would come out that I could not stop and I could not mess with.”

... at the following link:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/jul/19/lows-alan-sparhawk-on-the-death-of-his-wife-and-bandmate-mimi-parker-if-you-fall-in-love-you-know-this-could-happen

Yeah, I'm not getting the Cher comparison at all, unless there was another of her tracks that used a more affected treated vocal sound other than 'Believe' that I'm not aware of. The vocoder on this Sparhawk track sounds more like something I heard Kanye West use on some of his more recent tracks. Would be a pretty hilarious cross pollination regardless.

I guess Cher is the handiest comparison to make when you're a man in his mid 50s who listens to Low, and not a young person who knows or cares what More Eaze and Alex G are.

Holy fuck are those vocals intolerable. The music is good but how has autotune not died yet? It's nails on a fucking chalkboard. Sort it out Alan

New track from album released, I like the instrumental on this one a lot and the big chords with the other voices. If you didn't like the vocoder on the previous track you won't like this one either most likely lol

This is out. Couldn't really make it through it due to the vocals—a common complaint.
Feels a bit demo-y. Hmm.

Big LOW fan, but this is just awful. 

Lol what is this trash

I'm liking it, not sure if enough to buy the record but intrigued for certain. I suppose after Mimi died I thought he'd either quit or release super slow dirgey laments like Low meets Nico.. so him to go this way is unexpected.

Getting slight Kid A vibes... the idea that the emotions presented are too strong and raw so the author feels they have to edit/censor it out, cover it in a shiny layer of neon plastic, hints at a lot of darkness and heaviness behind the synthetic sheen.

Contender for one of the most annoying albums I've ever heard in my life

For completion will post the most recent vid as well:

Just finished my first listen and, while there are some laugh-out-loud moments of silliness with the vocals, there are some genuinely powerful and exciting moments as well. The track I linked below contains a bit of both. I can't say I've heard anything quite like this LP & I'm going to stick with it for a bit. You can definitely hear him working through emotions and a new creative modality as you listen.

  On 10/21/2024 at 8:49 AM, Goiter Sanchez said:

Just finished my first listen and, while there are some laugh-out-loud moments of silliness with the vocals, there are some genuinely powerful and exciting moments as well. The track I linked below contains a bit of both. I can't say I've heard anything quite like this LP & I'm going to stick with it for a bit. You can definitely hear him working through emotions and a new creative modality as you listen.

 

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This track came up on my album playthrough right as I scrolled here.  Was very close to ending my listen, but will hear the track through...

Well the vocals are a lot more tolerable at a lower register and volume.  They're so ridiculously up front on the rest of the tracks.  The addition of the guitar provides some relief too.  And the high vox sound a bit like Mimi.  I can see why this would be the stand out for you.

Anyway, I'm done.