Sparklehorse Estates, the indie rock project of the late singer-songwriter Mark Linkous, has announced a new posthumous album titled bird machine. The LP will arrive via ANTI- on September 8, while the newly released song “Evening Star Supercharger” is available below.
Linkous began working with Steve Albini in 2009 on his fifth Sparklehorse album.He tragically committed suicide the following year, but he left a handwritten note bird shooting machineThe title and tracklist for the song — according to his brother Matt and sister-in-law Melissa — is nearly complete.
The quality of the song helped Matt and Melissa – who have been Linkous’ archivists since his death – decide to finish and release bird shooting machine, Although Matt calls it the hardest choice he’s ever made. “It’s hard to make choices about someone else’s art, even if you’ve known them all your life and worked with them, even if they’re your brother and best friend,” he said. “We had a long discussion and didn’t want to take it in a different direction. We wanted to bring out what was there.”
The couple joined previous Sparklehorse collaborators Alan Weatherhead, Joel Hamilton and Greg Calbi, who produced, mixed and mastered the album respectively. “It means a lot to me that this is the last beautiful thing my brother put together,” Matt said. “When I sit down and put my headphones on, I run them all the time. Everything from ‘It Will Never Stop’ to ‘Evening Star Supercharger’ to ‘Stay’ is just a rant from Mark.”
Toy piano, mellotron, and wurlitzer add an oddly cinematic quality to “Evening Star Supercharger,” a melancholic mid-tempo track that would otherwise be on Linkous’s acoustic guitar. “Well, I kicked, I screamed, from zero to four/I still don’t know why,” sings the artist. The song comes with a music video with Linkous’ handwritten lyrics, making the project feel like a final farewell to the beloved musician. Check it out below.
pre order for bird shooting machine In progress. The project features “It Will Never Stop,” a song Sparklehorse shared last December. Before that, the artist appeared with MF DOOM on the song “Ninjarous,” shared by Danger Mouse.
bird shooting machine artwork:
bird shooting machine Track list:
01. Never stop
02. The kind ghost
03. Evening Star Supercharger
04. My child
05. Fall
06. I messed up
07. Hello Lord
08. Dad is gone
09. Chaos Universe
10. Listen to The Higsons
11. Everyone falls asleep
12. Lucia Sculls
13. blue
14. stay