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With all that Danger Mouse has tackled of late, he’s giving T-Bone Burnett a run for his co-production, co-mastermind skills. And unlike prior recent collaborations like Gnarls Barkley and Broken Bells, Dark Night of the Soul features Danger Mouse at his most haunting. Perhaps it’s an ironic show of foreboding that DM’s collaborator on this project – Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse committed suicide last March.
Recorded last year prior to Broken Bells, this collaborative project has now come out "officially" this July, after various legal garbage was settled, perhaps too late, as a prior release might have saved the depressed Linkous. Despite DM and Linkous’ efforts, Dark Night is a vocal album foremost with its stellar round of voices: The Flaming Lips, Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals), Jason Lytle (Grandaddy), Julian Casablancas (The Strokes), Black Francis (The Pixies), Iggy Pop, David Lynch, James Mercer (The Shins/Broken Bells), Nina Persson (The Cardigans), Suzanne Vega and Vic Chesnutt. Although sadly Chesnutt also recently took his life, it’s not all a solemn affair.
Lytle’s voice is the perfect fit for the dreamy sonic vibe that was aimed for here as “Jaykub” and “Everytime I’m With You” carry that Grandaddy lo-fi vibe we all miss. Rhys almost sounds lik Damon Albarn on “Just War” giving the track a modern “Gorillaz” touch, while The Flaming Lips knock it dead out of the leadoff spot with the stellar “Revenge.” The hard rock is delivered with the one two back-to back delivery featuring Black Francis (“Angels Harp”) and Iggy Pop (“Pain”), before the familiar indie tingling are met with Mercers’ recognizable Shinsy voice on t “Insane Lullabye,” which would have been a great tune, minus the noisy back effects courtesy of his bud Danger Mouse. Dark Night of the Soul is a mood piece for sure, a reflective collaboration that holds the torch that The Crow soundtrack from 16 years ago did: bringing together a novel circle of voices, before it became common fare.
