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White Roses, My God

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White Roses, My God
A dark purple, human-shaped figure over a black background. The artist's and album's names are typed in all caps gray text in the top-left corner.
Studio album by
Alan Sparhawk
ReleasedSeptember 27, 2024
Recorded2023
Studio20 Below Studios (Duluth, Minnesota)
Length34:54
LabelSub 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
  2. "Get Still"
    Released: August 20, 2024
  3. "Heaven"
    Released: September 25, 2024

White Roses, My God is the second solo album by former Low guitarist/vocalist Alan Sparhawk, released 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. It was preceded by three singles.

Background and release

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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] Encouraged by his friend, Lambchop's Kurt Wagner, Sparhawk returned to live performances.[5] He played shows with his and Parker's daughter Hollis,[5] opened for Lambchop and Godspeed You! Black Emperor,[6] and played a solo set at Utrecht music festival Le Guess Who? 2023.[5][7] Low had cancelled their headling set at the 2022 edition of Le Guess Who? due to Parker's health, and she died a week before the festival.[5][7]

Sparhawk also started recording around the same time,[3] and started two new groups: punk funk band Derecho Rhythm Section, and funky electronic duo Damien with his and Parker's son Cyrus.[5] A second solo album, a collaborative project with Duluth, Minnesota, folk band Trampled by Turtles, began during that time.[5]

Sparhawk first mentioned White Roses, My God in an interview with The New Yorker's Justin Taylor, published April 11, 2024.[1] 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.[8]

The album was officially announced on July 16, with a release date set for September 27 by Sub Pop.[9] The lead single, "Can U Hear", was released the same day, accompanied by a music video directed by Rick Alverson.[9][10] The song is electronic[9][10] and "near-industrial".[9]

The second single, "Get Still", was released on August 20, accompanied by a music video directed by Ingrid Weise.[11] Like "Can U Hear", "Get Still" consists of electronic instrumentation, with Sparhawk's "voice so heavily Auto-Tuned that it no longer sounds recognizably human."[11] The third single, "Heaven", was released on September 25, 2024, with a music video directed by Alverson.[12][13]

When asked on Twitter about the album name's significance, Sparhawk said, "Mim loved roses, and sometimes I think she is God."[14]

Recording

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The album was recorded at 20 Below Studios in Duluth, Minnesota.[9] Sparhawk produced and recorded along with Nat Harvie, who also mixed the album, and Heba Kadry mastered it.[9] 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]

Style

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Stylistically, White Roses, My God follows Low's last two albums, 2018's Double Negative and 2021's Hey What, in applying layers of distortion over otherwise-straightforward songwriting.[5] Going further down that route, Sparhawk included synthesizers, drum machines, dance beats, and pitch-shifted vocals.[5] All of the album's vocals were recorded with a vocoder.[15] Influences included Prince's alter ego Camille and Neil Young's album Trans.[5]

Track listing

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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

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  1. ^ a b 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. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ a b c d e f g h i Hutcheon, David (July 19, 2024). "Low's Alan Sparhawk on the death of his wife and bandmate Mimi Parker: "If you fall in love, you know this could happen"". The Guardian. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  6. ^ Rettig, James (April 11, 2024). "Low's Alan Sparhawk Prepping New Solo Album White Roses, My God". Stereogum. Retrieved April 12, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Snapes, Laura (November 12, 2023). "Alan Sparhawk review – beautiful, obliterating hymns to Low's Mimi Parker". The Guardian. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Murray, Robin (July 16, 2024). "Alan Sparkhawk's "Can U Hear" Is a Deeply Profound Piece of Music". Clash. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
  10. ^ a b 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.
  11. ^ a b Breihan, Tom (August 20, 2024). "Alan Sparhawk – "Get Still"". Stereogum. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  12. ^ Breihan, Tom (September 25, 2024). "Alan Sparhawk – "Heaven"". Stereogum. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  13. ^ Redfern, Mark (September 25, 2024). "Alan Sparhawk of Low Shares Video for New Song "Heaven"". Under the Radar. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  14. ^ Ragusa, Paolo (July 16, 2024). "Low's Alan Sparhawk Announces Debut Solo Album White Roses, My God, Details 2025 Headlining Tour Dates". Consequence. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  15. ^ Sparhawk, Alan [@lowtheband] (July 19, 2024). "Did all the vocals with [the vocoder]. It was inspiring and freeing to be able to use my voice but get different sounds" (Tweet). Retrieved July 21, 2024 – via Twitter.
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