Photo by David Clinch
Posthumous albums inevitably wrestle with what’s there and not there. The presence of the music — as eager as fans may be to hear it — recalls the artist’s absence, particularly in tragic cases such as that of Virginia native and former Richmond resident Mark Linkous, whose 2010 death by suicide ended his influential indie rock recording career as Sparklehorse.
But in the case of “Bird Machine,” the recently released LP that would have been Linkous’ fifth studio album, what’s gone and what’s left behind combine to create a welcoming space in which listeners can reconnect with — or newly discover — Sparklehorse’s fractured brilliance.
The task of finalizing Linkous’ last album fell to his brother, Matt, and sister-in-law, Melissa Moore Linkous. The couple had been sifting through Mark’s unreleased recordings with the help of audio preservationist Bryan Hoffa, whose path crossed Mark’s at Richmond’s Sound of Music Studios. The viability of “Bird Machine” couldn’t be ignored. So much was already there: the title, a track list, handwritten lyrics and much of the necessary tracking — split between Linkous’ own Static King studio in North Carolina and producer Steve Albini’s in Chicago. Matt and Melissa worked within a trusted circle of Sparklehorse collaborators to fill the gaps. “We weren’t trying to guess what Mark would or wouldn’t have done,” Matt notes. “We all worked in Sparklehorse at one time or another and have a sensibility of where he was going with it.”
Sparklehorse’s stylistic range certainly made it into the final mixes, from acoustic balladry (“Hello Lord”) and wounded piano missives (“O Child”) to electronic elements (“Kind Ghosts”) and crunchy pop blasts (“It Will Never Stop”). So what’s missing? In the song “Daddy’s Gone,” it’s time: “I woke up and all my yesterdays were gone” read the lyrics. In “Everybody’s Gone to Sleep,” it’s companionship: “There ain’t no one here to hold now.” There are ghosts, as well — the Confederate ones in “Falling Down” and the benevolent ones that fail to show up when they’re needed in “Kind Ghosts.”
Between and inside those vacuums, however, life rushes in — dreams, sunrises, stars being born and birds finding their mates. Out of absence grows hope, pain and beauty to draw on as you strive for presence in life. That’s why the closing track, “Stay,” echoes long after its conclusion. “Stay for the day,” Linkous implores before promising, “It’s gonna get brighter.”
“Mark’s music touched a lot of people on a deep and personal level,” Melissa says. “Knowing that these songs are making people happy or helping them is important. And it will continue on, way past our lifetimes. What a beautiful gift.”
“Bird Machine” is available from the Anti- recording label. For more information, visit anti.com.
