With Trampled by Turtles

悲しみを乗り越えて生まれた前作に続くアラン・スパーホーク(ロウ)のセカンド・アルバムが完成。ミネソタのフォーク・バンド、トランプルド・バイ・タートルズと制作された『ウィズ・トランプルド・バイ・タートルズ』、サブ・ポップよりリリース。

Sub Pop RecordsからLowのAlan Sparhawkのソロ2作目『With Trampled by Turtles』がリリースされる。『With Trampled by Turtles』は、その名の通り、集団的、共同的、友愛的、共感的なレコードであり、Sparhawkの長年の友人であり、ミネソタ州の仲間であるTrampled by Turtlesの協力を得てレコーディングされた。『With Trampled by Turtles』は、2023年末にミネソタ州キャノンフォールズのPachyderm Studiosでレコーディングされた。Alan Sparhawkは、Trampled by Turtlesとのセッションの終盤に、創作中の数曲を持ってやってきた。その中には、Lowとして作業をしたことのない曲もあれば、フレッシュで適切なセッティングでの完成を待っている曲もあった。何年もの間、両者は一緒に何かを作ろうと話してはいたが、それは口約束以上のものではなかった。しかし、Sparhawkが最も彼らとの制作を必要としていたとき、その約束はかつてないほど直ちに、再び姿を現した。「チャンスだと思ったら、飛びつくんだ」とSparhawkは語る。『With Trampled by Turtles』は、2024年にリリースされ、The Guardian、Stereogum、Pitchfork、Clash、MOJO、Uncut、The Line of Best Fit、Under The Radar、Brooklyn Vegan、The New York Timesなどのメディアから賞賛を得たSparhawkのソロ・デビュー作、『White Roses, My God』に続くものである。

Alan Sparhawks solo output after Low has been anything but predictable. To be fair, Low kept their listeners guessing for the majority of their nearly 30-year run, evolving from one album to the next and reaching new levels of experimentation with the giddy distortion and studio sound manipulation on 2018s Double Negative and 2021s Hey What. After Low ended following the death of founding member Mimi Parker in 2022, Sparhawk released work under his own name, beginning in 2024 with White Roses, My God, an album of moody funk and electronic programming where vocoded vocals puzzlingly replaced Sparhawks usual delicate organic harmonies. Less than a year later, With Trampled by Turtles goes in yet another unexpected direction, as Sparhawk joins forces with his friends from the Duluth, Minnesota music community Trampled by Turtles, leaning into their rootsy bluegrass sound. Even as Lows sound twisted into new forms over the years, they never quite got into bluegrass territory, and it takes a few songs to acclimate to the combination of high-spirited acoustic music and Sparhawks emotionally powerful but usually subtle style. The hearty charge of opening track "Stranger" is about as far away from the troubled dreamscape atmospheres of White Roses, My God as possible, with a chorus of earthy vocal harmonies, plinky banjos, fiddles, and wooden guitar tones all backing Sparhawk in one of his more belted performances. This difference is especially emphasized by the songs "Heaven" and "Get Still," both of which appeared in far more abstract versions on White Roses. Arranged with mandolins and theatrical violin lines instead of cold drum machines and robotic vocals, the versions here show just how adaptable Sparhawks songwriting can be. The intentions and moods of the songs come through loud and clear in both articulations. Likewise, after getting over the initial shock of the new bluegrass setting, its the songs themselves on With Trampled by Turtles that resonate the most. While the instrumentation is a new twist, this is essentially a bluegrass reading of the kind of beautifully melancholic songcraft Low excelled at. A few tunes were even originally worked on to be Low songs before the band ended. Of these songs, "Not Broken" is especially chilling, with Sparhawks daughter Hollis singing the same kind of gliding, elegant vocals that Parker contributed to Low for so many years. There are a few other sidebars, as well, like the Leonard Cohen-esque "Screaming Song," with its boozy singsong melody and cathartic cello scratches, or the angsty chamber-folk closer "Torn & in Ashes," which ends the album with a feeling of hanging unfinishedness. With Trampled by Turtles isnt quite like anything Sparhawk has created before, but its an excellent example of just how mercurial and alien his talents are. As with so much of what came before it, Sparhawks songs are so quietly magnificent, the setting for them becomes almost arbitrary. ~ Fred Thomas