Album Review: Alan Sparhawk & Trampled by Turtles – Alan Sparhawk with Trampled by Turtles

I had the chance to speak with Ryan Young – the fiddle player in Trampled by Turtles – leading up to their performance at High Water Festival. Young gave the backstory of their recent album, Alan Sparhawk with Trampled by Turtles. Alan Sparhawk is a member of the band Low, which consisted of Alan, his late wife Mimi Parker and Steve Garrington. With the passing of his wife, Sparhawk created the album and asked Trampled by Turtles to be the band for the job. This album is in homage to Parker. Young describes it to be something on a whole other plane if you know the true meaning of Sparhawk’s loss of band member and wife all in one. “If you need a good cry, check it out – not that the whole thing is a bummer, it’s not. If you know what the songs are about, then you can apply that knowledge.” – Young.

As the lyrics can be interpreted differently knowing the backstory, “Too High” perfectly exemplifies this. Sparhawk is singing about putting emotion into a song and is begging: “Come down this instant / you’re too high.” On the other hand, “Heaven” is laying out his thoughts plain as day. In this song that is just short of two minutes long, the builds by the strings grow in line with the lyrics “I wanna be there with the people that I love / are you gonna be there?”

No doubt tears are being shed as Mimi and Alan’s daughter, Hollis Sparhawk, comes in with an angelic chorus on “Not Broken”: “It’s not broken, I’m not angry.” Every piece of this song, with a subtly punching production and sharp lyricism, creates a radiant ballad.

The genius sonic production of strings sounds incredibly realistic, creating a screaming sound at the end of “Screaming Song,” portraying Sparhawk’s pain. “I thought I would never stop screaming your name, but I ran out of breath, so I took in some more and I started to scream even louder.” This song shows just how much love turned into the hurt that Sparhawk has for his wife.

“Princess Road Surgery” is a wonderful expression of the pressures and unrealistic expectations put on someone; this song is a hug. With another poetic scraping of strings, “Don’t Take Your Light” is one for the history books. Closing out the album, “Torn & in Ashes” slows down the production with lingering notes as Sparhawk’s voice breaks just slightly, bringing this story to an end.

You can tell how much chemistry Alan Sparhawk and Trampled by Turtles have together. This deeply meaningful album was done exquisitely from first note to last. Each member of the six-piece band of Trampled by Turtles has a sound that is truly their own and knows exactly how to elevate Sparhawk’s emotions. Every bit of production and every cutting lyric with Alan Sparhawk’s beautiful voice creates an album that is more than incredible and heartbreaking, it is an emotional journey and simply a masterpiece.