On the face of it, Alan Sparhawk and Trampled by Turtles could be the most unlikely combination of all time. Sparhawk’s last couple of albums with Low, especially Hey What, went to musical extremes, while Trampled by Turtles seem to be the anthesis of that, a rootsy jam band who revel in the moment. Yet both bands hail from Minnesota where a mutual admiration society formed. Sparhawk and his bandmate and late wife Mimi Parker would often be up on stage singing with the band. After touring with the band in 2023, they tacked an extra day on at the end of the recording sessions and recorded With Trampled by Turtles.
As experimental as Low could be, this album makes sense. The Turtles not only bring out the beauty in this material, they deal with his grief more directly than White Roses, My God, where Sparhawk’s use of synthesizers and vocal effects tended to hide his lyrics. Now, fully exposed, he becomes a man dealing with his emotions openly, as the banjos, guitars and violins take him back to the roots of Low.
Perhaps nothing speaks more openly than the new version of ‘Heaven’, originally recorded on White Roses, My God. Instead of the synths and vocoders, the acoustic treatment brings Sparhawk’s emotions out into the open air. As he sings, “Heaven/ It’s a lonely place if you’re alone/ I wanna be there with the people I love.” There’s an unbelievable sense of melancholy to the banjo playing matching the mood of the song, taking it far from the coldly dispassionate original version and giving it a more strikingly spiritual tone.
Trampled by Turtles are an almost perfect choice for this collection. Knowing when to lay back, they give Sparhawk plenty of space at the beginning of ‘Screaming Song’, as he lays bare his emotions, “When you flew out the window and into the sunset/ I thought I would never stop screaming/ I thought I would never stop screaming your name.” Ryan Young’s corrosive violin solo unleashes all the shattered emotions and bare wires of heartbreak and grief. It’s a scream into the darkness.
Song after song reveals how this combination of talents seems to bring out the best in each other. The stop and start litany of ‘Princess Road Surgery’ exposes Sparhawk as a singer who has found his voice emerging from the heartbreak. When he sings the chorus, “So much for saving the world/ I thought you’d make it for sure/ Too much for one little girl,” you feel the burden he bears.
Alan Sparhawk With Trampled by Turtles doesn’t grab you by the collar. Little by little it infects you, catching you in a web, emotions exposed, ensnared by experiences that reveal love and grief.