After a year of battles with label EMI, Dark Night of the Soul, Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse, and David Lynch’s collaborative album, will finally drop on July 13. Tired of waiting? Well, you’re in luck: the entire record is streaming over atNPR right now!
The star-studded collaboration, which also features guest spots from the Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne, the Pixies’ Black Francis, Iggy Pop, the Strokes’ Julian Casablancas, Super Furry Animals’ Gruff Rhys, the Cardigans’ Nina Persson, and the Shins’ James Mercer, among others, began in 2006 and recording was completed in the spring of 2009. While the conflict between Danger Mouse and EMI kept the album from official release then, bootlegged copies were widely distributed along with a book of artwork from the Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive director.
In May ’09, SPIN posted a track-by-track breakdown of the album, describing it as “a loose narrative about solitude, lost love, and disturbing dreams.” It features “genres ranging from electro-pop and Ringling Bros.-like jingles to sludge metal and country,” all of which are “unified by the ethereal production sheen Mr. Mouse is known for.”
Since then, the earlier dispute has been settled, two of the record’s collaborators have passed away (Sparklehorse’s Mark Linkous, and singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt both took their own lives), and a spin-off project between Mercer and Danger Mouse, called Broken Bells, have released an album.
Head over to NPR to listen to Dark Night of the Soul in its entirety right now, then tell us what you think in the comment section.
