Along with
the Flaming Lips and
Mercury Rev,
Sparklehorse crafts strangely beautiful -- and beautifully strange -- music inspired by down-to-earth sounds as well as spacey experimentalism. But where
the Lips are lovably loopy and
Mercury Rev is arty and wry,
Sparklehorse wraps deep-seated, often uncomfortable emotions in layers of metaphors and static. However, the group's third album,
It's a Wonderful Life, is its most open and direct work yet. Whether this has anything to do with the fact that this is reportedly singer/songwriter
Mark Linkous' first substance-free work is arguable, but regardless, it's a noticeably more focused effort. Though it lacks
Good Morning Spider's sprawling brilliance, it's possibly
Linkous' most effective, and affecting, collection of songs. It's also his most collaborative album, with co-producer and
Mercury Rev alum
David Fridmann adding just the right amount of warmth and weirdness and
the Cardigans'
Nina Persson and
PJ Harvey contributing backing vocals that rival their work on
Gran Turismo and
Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea.
Persson's sweetly empathetic voice shines on "Gold Day" and "Little Fat Baby," while
Harvey's passionate style fits "Piano Fire" and the brooding ballad "Eyepennies" perfectly. Driven by burbling keyboards, drum machines, acoustic guitar, and piano, and populated with spooky, homespun images of babies, teeth, nails, and horses, most of the album consists of gently unsettling ballads like the title track and "Apple Bed." Edgier, poppier songs like "King of Nails" and "Comfort Me" don't sound out of place, but the stomping, clunky,
Tom Waits-lite of "Dog Door," which actually features
Waits on lead vocals, is a distraction. The album's sweet, yet too strange to be conventionally uplifting songs like "More Yellow Birds" and "Babies on the Sun" convey
It's a Wonderful Life's message best: Even at its weirdest, just being alive is pretty wonderful. Needless to say, so is the album. ~ Heather Phares