White Roses, My God

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White Roses, My God
Alan Sparhawk - White Roses, My God.png
Studio album by
Alan Sparhawk
ReleasedSeptember 27, 2024
Recorded2023
Studio20 Below Studios (Duluth, Minnesota)
Length34:54
Label Sub Pop
Producer
  • Alan Sparhawk
  • Nat Harvie
Alan Sparhawk chronology
Solo Guitar
(2006)		White Roses, My God
(2024)
Singles from White Roses, My God
  1. "Can U Hear"
    Released: July 16, 2024

White Roses, My God is the upcoming second solo album by former Low guitarist/vocalist Alan Sparhawk, set for release on September 27, 2024, by Sub Pop. It is Sparhawk's first album since the death of his wife and bandmate, Mimi Parker, and the subsequent end of their band. Sparhawk began recording for the album in late 2023.

Contents

Background and release

White Roses, My God is Sparhawk's first album since his wife and Low bandmate Mimi Parker died of ovarian cancer in 2022, [1] [2] and the subsequent retirement of the band. [3] [4]

Sparhawk announced the album in an interview with The New Yorker 's Justin Taylor, published April 11, 2024. [1] He had started touring solo in late 2023, [3] including shows opening for Lambchop and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, [5] and recording around the same time. [3] At the time, he said the album would be released in late 2024. [3] Sparhawk later shared on Low's Twitter account that the album would be released by Sub Pop in "late September", and that its first song would be released in July. [6]

The album was officially announced on July 16, with a release date set for September 27 by Sub Pop. [7] The lead single, "Can U Hear", was released the same day, accompanied by a music video directed by Rick Alverson. [7] [8] The song is electronic [7] [8] and "near-industrial". [7]

When asked on Twitter about the album name's significance, Sparhawk said "Mim loved roses, and sometimes I think she is God." [9]

Recording

The album was recorded at 20 Below Studios in Duluth, Minnesota. [7] Sparhawk produced and recorded along with Nat Harvie, who also mixed the album, and Heba Kadry mastered it. [7] On these recordings, Sparhawk said he "was messing with this rigid stuff. There were moments where it would quickly become very visceral, very spontaneous. You've created the structure for it to happen and come through you, but you're trusting the universe about what is going to come in." [3] Those recordings included him experimenting with improvising guitar and pitch-shifted vocals over a preset synthesizer clocked to a drum machine. [3]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Alan Sparhawk.

White Roses, My God track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Get Still"3:43
2."I Made This Beat"1:53
3."Not the 1"2:28
4."Can U Hear"3:29
5."Heaven"1:07
6."Brother"4:30
7."Black Water"3:34
8."Feel Something"3:21
9."Station"3:44
10."Somebody Else's Room"3:48
11."Project 4 Ever"3:17
Total length:34:54

Personnel

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References

  1. 1 2 Monroe, Jazz (April 11, 2024). "Low's Alan Sparhawk Promises Solo Album This Fall in New Yorker Interview". Pitchfork . Retrieved April 11, 2024.
  2. ↑ Moreland, Quinn (November 6, 2022). "Low's Mimi Parker Has Died". Pitchfork . Retrieved April 11, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Taylor, Justin (April 11, 2024). "The Heart of Low". The New Yorker . Retrieved April 11, 2024.
  4. ↑ Helman, Peter (April 11, 2024). "Low's Alan Sparhawk Preps Solo Album White Roses, My God". Q . Archived from the original on May 12, 2024. Retrieved April 12, 2024.
  5. ↑ Rettig, James (April 11, 2024). "Low's Alan Sparhawk Prepping New Solo Album White Roses, My God". Stereogum . Retrieved April 12, 2024.
  6. ↑ Sparhawk, Alan [@lowtheband] (June 12, 2024). "Just heading home today from making a couple videos for the new solo record. First song drops in July. Full record is out in late September on Sub Pop" (Tweet). Retrieved June 12, 2024– via Twitter.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Murray, Robin (July 16, 2024). "Alan Sparkhawk's "Can U Hear" Is a Deeply Profound Piece of Music". Clash . Retrieved July 16, 2024.
  8. 1 2 Hakimian, Rob (July 16, 2024). "Low's Alan Sparhawk Announces Solo Album With the Glitched-Up Nightmare "Can U Hear"". Beats Per Minute . Retrieved July 16, 2024.
  9. ↑ Sparhawk, Alan [@lowtheband] (April 23, 2024). "Mim loved roses, and sometimes I think she is God" (Tweet). Retrieved May 2, 2024– via Twitter.
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