Sparklehorse : Bird Machine

When singer/songwriter Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse took his own life back in March of 2010 it was both an absolute shock and sadly not surprising. Linkous struggled with depression and addiction and you heard it in his music. Still, you hope someone as talented and heart-on-sleeve as Linkous would find their way out of the deep, dark woods they found themselves in. At the time Linkous was writing a new Sparklehorse album and working with producer Steve Albini. Linkous died before the record came to fruition.

Matt and Melissa Linkous, Mark’s brother and sister-in-law, found the tracks and began working on them to curate a posthumous release. That release has arrived in the form of Bird Machine, a sad, tragic, and beautiful end to Sparklehorse and the great Mark Linkous.

Ironically this is probably the simplest and most upfront Sparklehorse record. At the time Linkous had said in interviews that he wanted the next record to be simple and get back to straight up pop rock songs. For the most part he did that. I don’t know what shape the songs were in when Mark’s brother found them, but the album holds up as a proper record. Not some odds and sods collection, which makes it all the more bittersweet.

Some of Linkous’ best songs are here, with the gorgeous and electronic-driven “Kind Ghosts”, Linkous’ voice sounding it’s coming from some other time or place. Like an answering machine message from beyond. “Evening Star Supercharger” is just a great pop song, carried by a simple strummed acoustic guitar and tinkling keys. “O Child” and “Falling Down” sound like laments from beyond the grave. Jaunty, dusty ballads that open the curtains to the tortured soul that Mark Linkous was.

There are some rockers, like album opener “It Will Never Stop” and the fuzz-drenched “Listening To The Higsons”(a Robyn Hitchcock cover), but for the most part this is a simple, acoustic-led collection of songs. Wobbly music box melodies with Mark Linkous’ voice carrying the heaviest weight.

Bird Machine feels like the proper period at the end of a very long and tragic open-ended sentence. Linkous still alive and leading Sparklehorse into a long and great career was the ideal ending, but we’ll take what we can get.