Following Danger Mouse’s work with James Mercer on Broken Bells, I didn’t really think 2010 could get much better for him, however, in Dark Night of the Soul, and with the help of Sparklehorse and friends, he’s produced a genuine contender.
A massive, sprawling collection of collaborations taking in varying styles of music, but all featuring the unique Danger Mouse sound, Dark Night of the Soul is an album of mostly great music.
While I can’t warm to Angel’s Harp, featuring Black Francis, with its bad lyrics and bad metal, the rest are class. Even the Iggy Pop featured Pain grows on you in the end, especially on the dark days when you want a little old-headed empathetic wisdom.
Danger Mouse’s accosting of James Mercer continues in Insane Lullaby, which sounds like The Shins on acid. Other notable featurings include The Flaming Lips on Revenge, with characteristic Lips insight blended with the production might of Danger Mouse, Gruff Rhys’ Just War and it’s melodic musical simplicity & orchestral violin, and Julian Casablancas’ (Phrazes for the Young) twist-up Little Girl.
While there’s probably never going to be an opportunity to hear Dark Night of the Soul live, it’s definitely one of the greatest collections of songs since Now 22 (taking Nick Berry’s Heartbeat and U2’s Even Better Than the Real Thing out of the equation).
Dark Night of the Soul, Dangermouse & Sparklehorse album review: 4.4/5
