There are not many albums with the history of making long as Dark Night Of The Soul has. From the start of the project to the final release of the album in 2010, many years and few suicides have gone by. One day, the making of this record should serve as a scenario for a Hollywood movie.
Danger Mouse collaborated with elite of indie, pop and rock music on several projects. Most famous was Gnarls Barkley. He also contributed to the success of The Black Keys, Beck, Broken Bells. Before the album dropped, his associate Mark Linkous, the one who produced Sparklehorse’s Dreamt Of Light Years in A Belly Of A Mountain, killed himself. Mark Linkous fight with problems his whole life. These problems forced him to consume large amounts of alcohol (and some other substances). Addiction eventually took his life. Few months earlier, another co-producer of the album, Vic Chesnutt, overdosed with pills. At the end, the album was dedicated to Mark Linkous and Vic Chesnutt.
Dark Night Of The Soul is a classic collaboration album with diverse genre. Hall of famous artists participated to create an album that turned out to be colored in indie, but also flirted with Americana, rock and psychedelic. Each of the guests had an important role. They all contributed to the song writing process. Overall impression was intriguing. I still have the same eerie feeling while listening to the Dark Night Of The Soul.
Albeit featured artists did not move away from the original themes, the record sounds well integrated. The Flaming Lips in psychedelic Americana ballade with rich orchestrations titled Revenge opens the album and introduces us to the post-mortem world of surprisingly optimistic music. Julian Casablancas was huge at the time and he participated in Little Girl. It might me my least favorite from the album. Black Francis from Pixies always kills me with Angel’s Harp, while Iggy Pop sounds like a young wild boy in Pain.
Gruff Rhys from Super Furry Animals made Just War so beautiful that it stands as the album’s diamond pearl necklace. Jaykub with Jason Lytle from Grandaddy has the power of Band Of Horses. Similar is valid to say for Everytime I’m With You.
Genius mind of The Shins was used for Insane Lullaby, and Nina Persson from The Cardigans delivered an acoustic pop extravaganza in Daddy’s Gone. The Man Who Played God with Suzanne Vega leads to the darkest moment of the album - Grim Augury. This is the song through which Vic Chesnutt speaks to us.
David Lynch helped with the cover design, but he also took his part in creating music. Star Eyes is a psychedelic ballade saturated with xylophone sections that closes the album.
I keep wondering – If death did not play a huge role in the making of this record, would it be such a masterpiece? Let’s just end this post with that dilemma.
