New Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse Release Dedicated to Vic Chesnutt

Posted on Apr 21st 2010 9:26PM by Benjy Eisen
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James Mercer must not be the jealous type. His partner in Broken Bells, Danger Mouse, is releasing another album with another partner this summer. The ominously titled 'Dark Night of the Soul' -- the result of Danger Mouse's collaboration with Sparklehorse -- will officially see the light of day on July 13. Sparklehorse, of course, is the stage alias for Mark Linkous who tragically committed suicide earlier this year.

The album is dedicated to another recent suicide victim, Vic Chesnutt, who makes his own appearance on the disc. The storied project was originally released as a limited-edition art book under the creative direction of filmmaker David Lynch but featured a blank CDR in place of the album due to issues with the label. In addition to his original photographs and artwork, Lynch actually appears on several tracks.

"I told Mark that we'd worked things out with EMI back in January and he was very happy that the album was finally going to be released this year," said Danger Mouse in a statement. "Mark meant a great deal to a lot of people and I'm grateful to have made music with him and to be a part of his legacy."

Other 'Dark Night' guests include the Flaming Lips, Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals), Jason Lytle (ex-Grandaddy), Julian Casablancas, Black Francis, Iggy Pop, Nina Persson and Suzanne Vega. Oh, and Mercer is on there too. In fact, Mercer will get Danger Mouse all to himself again next month for a North American tour with Broken Bells.