Dark Night of the Soul

"I have all the means of bringing you fuckers down"

While I haven't ever listened to anything from Sparklehorse, I have been familiarized with Danger Mouse through Gnarls Barkley and his "The Grey Album" (2004), as well as his appearances with artists such as Gorillaz and The Black Keys.  With that being said, I had been anticipating the release of Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse's album "Dark Night of the Soul" since I heard about it earlier this year.  Such as music is, however, label disputes plagued the release of the album, and while it was supposed to be released earlier, it was delayed until July 12th of 2010.  However, the album has been available streaming online for quite some time and memorabilia, such as posters and a book of original photographs, have been available since May of this year.  Included with these sets was a blank CD-R that Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse tossed in and, as far as I can tell, were used to speak out against the label dispute and encourage their listeners to burn their album onto the disc.  

"Dark Night of the Soul" contains tracks produced by Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse, as well as assistance vocally as well as in production by several other artists.  Upon my first listen of the album, it was hard to get a feel for it, what with so many different vocal styles and various moods strewn throughout the album, however, after a few listens, I haven't been able to stop.  The list of vocalists include James Mercer of The Shins, The Flaming Lips, Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals, Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, Julian Casblancas of The Strokes, Frank Black (aka Black Francis) of the Pixies, Iggy Pop, Nina Persson of The Cardigans, Suzanne Vega, Vic Chesnutt, David Lynch, and Scott Spillane of Neutral Milk Hotel.  While I don't know all of the vocalists and, furthermore, am not a fan of all of the ones I do know, each and everyone of them meld together to make an incredibly well thought out and successful album.  All the lyrics are incredibly inspired save for a few songs and every song, while some sound incredibly similar, present a different mood and a different perspective on the album as well as life. 

"Revenge," featuring The Flaming Lips, obviously kicks the album off with a very mellow, relaxed song, yet a dark message, saying "In my mind/ I have shot you and stabbed you through your heart/ I just didn't understand/ The ricochet is the second part/... And the more I try to hurt you/ The more that it hurts me."  Commenting on the idea of revenge and how it has just as much negative effect on the giver as it does the receiver, The Flaming lips manage to create a powerful message of anger through a song which sounds almost peaceful as Wayne Coyne says "Though I have all the means of bringing you fuckers down/ I can't make myself," creating a wonderful melodic contradiction.  Other songs convey a similar sort of contradiction, such as "Jaykub," featuring Jason Lytle from Grandaddy, which tells the story of a man, Jaykub, basking in glory on a podium in front of a crowd of people, only to wake up as "the alarm goes of and you're a sad man in a song."  Lytle's soft vocals manage to create a dreamlike atmosphere as he approaches the depressing turn of waking up from a pleasant dream into a less than pleasant life, something many of us can relate to.

The album also includes tracks which are bit more up beat and rock inspired such as "Little Girl" and "Angel's Harp."  "Little Girl" is by far one of my favorite tracks on the album, in particular because I seem to become a bigger fan of Julian Casablancas' vocals every time I listen to The Strokes.  "Little Girl" is seemingly one of the most creative songs lyrically, speaking on love, life, laughter, and pain.  Casablancas makes comments on people in society ("A trick that people use to make you think they are smart/ Is confidence when actually they're lost in the dark"), himself ("Because I'm ignorant as shit, not here to preach, man/ You know I just wanna have fun, go to the beach man/ That's all I am, I'm just a simple guy who talks when/ You put a microphone in front of him"), as well as money ("The wolds always amazed at how much cash you made/ But not at how you made it, it's just strange") all within four minutes.  

"Angel's Harp" has an edgier feel to it like "Little Girl," but takes it to an entirely different level.  Black Fracis' vocals are rough and raspy, shouting "Pluckin' all day on my angel's harp", which definitely create a different feel on the album, however, coupled with the heavy rock instrumentals, the song seems out of place among the rest of the album.  Nevertheless, "Angel's Harp" isn't alone in this case, and "Pain" featuring Iggy Pop seems out of place as well, another song that has rough vocals as well as a strong rock influence, only furthered by Pop chanting "Pain, pain, pain/ Bad brains must always feel pain."  Furthermore, "Pain"'s lyrics are limited as well as seemingly less inspired than the rest of the album, with lines such as "Good karma will not get you anywhere/ Look at Jesus and his hair" and "Justice, religion, and success are fake/ And the shiny people stink."  These lines, while they may seem profound, are poorly rhymed and don't contain little substance, if any at all.  However, one line saves the song: "Pretty creepy, pretty funny/ I'm a mix of God and monkey," something that I think is both clever and hilarious.

At the end of the album are two songs, both of which are my other two favorites off of the album next to "Little Girl."  "Grim Augury" features Vic Chesnutt and conveys an incredibly dark and disturbing mood not only through the somber instrumentals, but even more so through Chesnutt's shaky vocals.  As he sings "I was making noises in my sleep/ But you wouldn't believe me when I told ya/ That I wasn't with someone in my dream/ Catfish were wriggling in blood and gore in the kitchen sink" the sense of fear and disgust in his voice is almost palpable.  "Dark Night of the Soul" features David Lynch, a celebrated film director, who also took all of the original photos found in the limited edition book released with this album.  The instrumentals of the song are slow and steady, hearkening back to an old blues piano style, masked by a static like noise.  Lynch's vocals are echoed and scratchy as well, creating an almost ghost like feel as he sings "Distant bell ring/ But steps echo/ No one on these streets/ Callin' out your name/ Where are you baby/ It's a dream world/ Dark dream world/ Dark night of the soul."  And so finishes the album, an incredibly fitting end to a wonderful journey.

"Dark Night of the Soul" by Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse contains a wealth of different musical moods, but has an immense amount of emotion and passion on top of that.  While some songs like "Angel's Harp" and "Pain" seem out of place, they can only help the album by creating a contrast with the more upbeat and happy songs like "The Man Who Played God" and "Insane Lullaby."  There's more on this album than I have time to talk about.  Several other songs are incredible and are worth taking the time to listen to.  "Dark Night of the Soul" conveys several human emotions in an incredibly diverse, yet structured way.  Although the variety vocally on this album is vast, each and every song comes together successfully to create an incredible album that every music listener will not only appreciate, but enjoy.

*Note: I'm fairly certain that the black and white pictures are samples from the book.  Each one contains David Lynch (man with the white hair), Sparklehorse (horse head), and Danger Mouse.*

"Dark Night of the Soul": 93/100

Take a listen here.