A new Sparklehorse album called Bird Machine will be released on September 8 via Anti-. It is the first posthumous release from Mark Linkous’ beloved project after his passing in 2010.
The album was compiled by his brother Matt and sister-in-law Melissa, both of whom had worked on Sparklehorse albums before. They both recall vivid conversations with Mark about his plans for the fifth Sparklehorse album, and upon finally sifting through the recordings he left behind they found his dreams beautifully realised. Working with Bryan Hoffa, an audio preservation specialist at the Library of Congress’ National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, they found some songs were practically complete while others needed some additions like subtle instrumentation or vocals to finalise them.
Discussing the decision to work on the songs, Matt Linkous says: “It’s the hardest decision I’ve ever made. It’s difficult making a choice about someone else’s art, even if you’ve known them all your life and worked with them, even if they were your brother and best friend. We had long conversations about not wanting to take this into a different direction. We wanted to bring out what was there.”
The result is Bird Machine, and today we get to hear the first sample of it in the lead single “Evening Star Supercharger”. You can watch the lyric video, with handwritten words by Mark Linkous, below, or find the song on streamers.
Sparklehorse’s new album Bird Machine arrives on September 8 through Anti- (pre-order/save).
