Shifter Heaven

Shape Shifter is Carlos Santana's 36th album and the 13-song set is an instrumental tour de force featuring tracks spanning from the late 1990's to the present. It's powered throughout by Carlos' instantly recognizable virtuoso lead guitar and the Santana Band's world-class musicianship (with one song featuring vocals from Santana's lead vocalists Andy Vargas and Tony Lindsay). Shape Shifter comprises mostly original compositions that have been stashed away for such an instrumental project and Carlos conceived the album's sequence as thoughtfully as the track selection.

Alan Sparhawk has always been a prolific, protean musician. A restless soul eager to explore unfamiliar sonic and psychic terrain. Though he’s obviously (and justifiably) best-known for his thirty years as frontman of the legendary band Low, a look at Sparhawk’s many side projects across that same span of time shows him experimenting with everything from punk and funk to production work and improvisation. Low itself never settled for a set sound or approach. The band was always a collaboration—a conversation, a romance—between Sparhawk and his wife, Mimi Parker, who was the band’s co-founder, drummer, co-lead vocalist, and its blazing irreplaceable heart. To take the journey from Low’s hushed early work, through the tremendous melodies of their middle period, all the way to the late lush chaos of their final albums, is to witness heads, hearts, and spirits in an act of perpetual becoming.

Alan Sparhawk has always been a prolific, protean musician. A restless soul eager to explore unfamiliar sonic and psychic terrain. Though he’s obviously (and justifiably) best-known for his thirty years as frontman of the legendary band Low, a look at Sparhawk’s many side projects across that same span of time shows him experimenting with everything from punk and funk to production work and improvisation. Low itself never settled for a set sound or approach. The band was always a collaboration—a conversation, a romance—between Sparhawk and his wife, Mimi Parker, who was the band’s co-founder, drummer, co-lead vocalist, and its blazing irreplaceable heart. To take the journey from Low’s hushed early work, through the tremendous melodies of their middle period, all the way to the late lush chaos of their final albums, is to witness heads, hearts, and spirits in an act of perpetual becoming.

Many of the lyrics on White Roses, My God—along with its promotional campaign—focus on grief as a key theme. However, the pain in Alan Sparhawk's life, and its emotional impact on his work, feel evident even without hearing the album or reading about it. The loss of his wife and Low bandmate, Mimi Parker, in November 2022, inevitably manifests itself in his life and his work.
Sparhawk, who has a propensity for creative surprises, includes several on White Roses, My God. He shares his emotions in unexpected, vulnerable, and whimsical ways. His first solo album since 2006's Solo Guitar defies the usual approaches a musician might take to communicate grief. While his singing in Low directly conveyed emotions, here he obscures his voice, processing it through a pitch shifter that he had bought for his children. The result sounds otherworldly, with little hint of the excellent singer behind them.

Many of the lyrics on White Roses, My God—along with its promotional campaign—focus on grief as a key theme. However, the pain in Alan Sparhawk's life, and its emotional impact on his work, feel evident even without hearing the album or reading about it. The loss of his wife and Low bandmate, Mimi Parker, in November 2022, inevitably manifests itself in his life and his work.
Sparhawk, who has a propensity for creative surprises, includes several on White Roses, My God. He shares his emotions in unexpected, vulnerable, and whimsical ways. His first solo album since 2006's Solo Guitar defies the usual approaches a musician might take to communicate grief. While his singing in Low directly conveyed emotions, here he obscures his voice, processing it through a pitch shifter that he had bought for his children. The result sounds otherworldly, with little hint of the excellent singer behind them.