Pig: showcases a very powerful desire for recklessness in the face of a newfound shot at life. Namely, there is a gut-wrenchingly expressed desire to go back and make indulgent use of a healthy body. Moreover, the beautifully powerful instrumental does a great job of helping the impactful lyricism stand out; particularly, the frenetic riff and distorted vocals make a very euphoric and fitting marriage to achieve this.

Mid-High 8.

Painbirds recurringly uses heat as a hard-hitting metaphor for tension and worry. Alongside this lies the arrival of painbirds, adding to the despondent imagery. On another note, musically, the disheartened guitar and cornet arrangements, as well as the atmospheric and downcast production elements, create a palpable sadness that really makes this track come alive beautifully.

Low-Mid 8.

Saint Mary is another song about Mark Linkous’ painful accident. Here, he praises the people involved in his recovery: the staff at *St. Mary’s* hospital — because this is where he was taken after being found. The songwriting also deals with his desperate wish to experience the world as he feels burdened by the hospital stay. The powerful imagery used to describe the hospital also creates a vivid and metaphoric recreation of his environment and inner turmoil.  Audibly, the vocals are mixed very intimately in this track, and that, along with the lethargic cello and guitar arrangements, make for a very textured, saddening, and candid experience.

Mid-High 7.

Good Morning Spider is a very well-crafted instrumental interlude that continues the depressive feel of the last track.

Mid 8.

Sick of Goodbyes is pretty self-explanatory. Along with this distaste for goodbyes, there is a very heartfelt collection of lyrics with an intense sense of love. This instrumental is charmingly playful and fun during the verses, a decision which makes the very hard-hitting chorus stand out admirably.

Low 9.

Box of Stars (Part One) is a short, single-verse, palate cleanser that alludes to previous emotions of wanting to escape the present — alluding to this escape being achieved by death. Instrumentally, it’s a short, otherworldly cut with string arrangements that are simultaneously ominous and calming somehow.

Mid 8.

Sunshine: A recording of Vic Chesnutt apologising because he couldn’t make it to be in the song is included in this track. Lyrically, this song is very poetic and beautiful. It conveys a (somewhat doomerist) feeling of acceptance — acceptance that change and violent metamorphosis are a part of life, while embracing the current state of sadness and loneliness. The instrumental is fantastically calm, and the vocal performances (and how they’re mixed together) are considerably heart-warming. However, compositionally, it’s a tad one-dimensional.

Mid-High 7.

Chaos of the Galaxy/Happy Man: this is another incredibly poetic lyrical highlight that intensely expresses the lack of control Mark Linkous felt he had over his own happiness — most likely due to his depression. The purposefully interlaced radio interference is one of the highlights of the instrumental because of how creative an idea it is, and because of how much it works in creating atmosphere. Moreover, the tension-release created by this device is also applaudable and energetic.

Low-Mid 9.

Hey, Joe is a cover of Daniel Johnston’s song. It has a couple of Beatles references and I’m all for it. This track is an emotional detour in the form of an effort to uplift the different characters introduced in the song; it makes the record more nuanced and human, as well as well-intentioned. This is probably the most stripped-down and acoustic track on the record. It’s a guitar and voice piece that reaches the heart, although the lack of the interesting production —present elsewhere in the tracklist— leaves it feeling a tad bland.

Low 7.

Come On In paints an endearing although blue picture of faith and belonging being the source of peace within oneself — even in the face of imminent death. The instrumental is very ambiental and well produced, with a submerging marriage between organ and piano that is quite hypnotic.

Low-Mid 8.

Maria’s Little Elbows has an overall narrative where loneliness seemingly chases unsuspecting people. It also explores, with very poetic lyricism, other nuanced feelings like emptiness and disheartenment; juxtaposed with the urging to keep loneliness at bay. This is another song that heavily features the acoustic guitar, as well as some shaken percussion. It’s a simple instrumental, one that’s strong and well performed though not as entrancing.

Mid-High 7.

Cruel Sun: Lyrically it has large overtones of impending doom. I interpret the act of looking at the sun with grave numbness until this person’s eyes are dry as an intense dwelling in affliction — which eventually consumes us. Using summer to describe these feelings makes the listener understand the effects of depression in every aspect of one’s life, regardless of how seemingly bright the outside world might appear. Similar to Pig, this song’s harrowing guitar tones and overflowing energy are amazing, and so is Mark Linkous’ vocal performance sung at a lower register.

Mid-High 8.

All Night Home is a poetic detailing of driving back home to West Virginia on a motorcycle. It could be a metaphor of connecting with one’s roots, or a literal anecdote with heartfelt reality. Musically, the transition from Cruel Sun is absolutely flawless, and the rest of the instrumental is greatly intimate. The track loses me ever-so-slightly due to its one-dimensionality, however.

High 7.

Ghost of His Smile is a cryptic and very visual allegory for depression caused by a loss. This loss could have been due to suicide because of the “and we thought that he was doing alright” lines — though it’s hard to say as this, and most Sparklehorse tracks for that matter, are very open to interpretation. Audibly, it features a gorgeously compressed instrumental with fantastically distorted melodies and snare hits. This is present mostly in the chorus, which is why it definitely shines brighter as a highlight within the cut than the verses.

Low 8.

Hundreds of Sparrows is as close as this album gets to a straightforward love song. It keeps the darkness of Mark Linkous’ idiosyncratic penmanship while simultaneously managing to be truly endearing. It talks about having fear of the world, especially people. This fear and emotional distancing is, in turn, contrasted with a tender togetherness within the relationship. This is nicely paired with an evocative vocal performance, which has great chemistry with the rest of the in-your-face mixing. This is an uncommon decision for a ballad, but it works quite well here, even applaudably so.

Low-Mid 8.

Box of Stars (Part Two) is an instrumental, a reprise, and a setup for an encore. It consists of part one reversed and makes for a good interlude.

Nice interlude.

Junebug seems to be a gritty and poetic march towards an inevitable albeit resisted and scorned death. Instrumentally, this is another strip-down cut mostly made up of acoustic guitar and layered vocals. The intimate mixing of Mark Linkous’ singing is brought back here, although it sadly isn’t enough to fully make up for the mostly unmemorable composition of the track.

Low 6.

Sources:

[1] https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/sparklehorse-revel-in-life-after-death-102962/