Welcome To Sparks, Nevada - Sun Kil Moon: Review
Sun Kil Moon
is the musical solo project of veteran songwriter Mark Kozelek who is also responsible for legendary slow core act Red House Painters. While Mark has always been a controversial figure he was accused of making unwanted sexual advances on a pair of fans as reported by Pitchfork media last year which caused the delay of this record.
Review By Lav:
I wasn't really sure how to handle this record. Mark has been extremely prolific over the last few years and I've spent a lot of that time not only reviewing his music, but dishing out tons of praise to it. The allegations leveled are Mark are obviously very serious and they would make me completely lose interest in many lesser singer-songwriters. But when one of the greatest songwriters of all time continues to release new music I can't help but listen. In an effort to truly hear the best music a year has to offer and to not have a glaring hole in my review catalog for an artist that would obviously be there is not for things that have nothing to do with music, I decided to make my thoughts on the new record public. At least for now.
The record was recorded early in the pandemic and sees Mark addressing it directly numerous times on the album which had me excited. While this record doesn't run quite as thematically tightly as some of my favorite of Mark's projects there are some major highlights. The opening track Angela starts off with Mark singing some brief melodies about his long time neighbor who has moved away. He misses many of their minor interactions specifically mentioning always coming home and seeing packages for her. He transitions this into noticing local businesses closing down amid the pandemic and wondering about how San Francisco is changing. It's a slow and beautiful little song with consistent focus and flow to its stories. Low Slow Spring is a cute little treat where Mark directly addresses what his day to day life has been like since the start of the pandemic. He lists off many of the ways he's been keeping busy and the track even includes a sweet pseudo hook to add some structure to its verses. I think a lot of people may be a little to pessimistic for some of Mark's observations but he handles and communicates it well.
Lemon Balm was a single that came out what feels like a lifetime ago last year. I like the song here just as much as I remembered last year with gentle instrumentation and beautiful vocals from Mark and Petra Haden. Mark has a funny interaction with some young fans, always a highlight of his projects and wraps up the song on the shorter side and I really enjoy it. The closing track Hugo is a big 13 minute finale to the record detailing a little vacation Mark and Caroline take to a small California town. It's full of the rich details and interesting narrative tidbits that have made this era of Mark's music so much fun. He meets tons of local characters while learning details about the history of the town highlighted by a charming interaction he has with a family fishing. He meets the Hugo after whom the track is named and gets some advice on where to go to eat. The conclusion of the trip also concludes the record on a very memorable moment.
While those are my favorite tracks there are still other songs I enjoy for the most part. Welcome To Sparks features a sparse piano instrumental that feels distant but very alive as Mark muses on his history with payphones which is far from a new topic for long time fans. Mark gives a performative re-enactment of an intense conversation he has with a faculty worked at a Christian rehab facility. The track settles down into something sweeter after that and while the title tracks on Mark's records are usually very significant this one seems pretty self-contained in regards to the whole record. William McGirt is the records longest song at 17 minutes and most of it is good. Mark has some very poignant observations about his sudden transition into no longer touring that he only slightly ruins by playing a game of word association with "streaming" and "BandCamp". A lot of the song is spent with Mark musing on how his identity is reflected by the places he had lived in and spend time in his live. He makes a reference to the recording process for the Sun Kil Moon album April which I'm always living for. The most Mark moment on the entire album sees him going on a rant about humus and why everything is put in bowls these days. Elk Grove is one of the most on the nose spoken word tracks that starts off with a charming discussion about jobs and skills with the girl who cuts Mark's hair. The song fittingly pays tribute to Elk Grove for much of its first half before an instrumental transition leads into the much looser second half. It gets a bit more somber in tone as Mark discusses random things like watching paramedics from his balcony or feeling happy that he doesn't have septic water.
The Johnny Cash Trail gets off to a rough start. Even though we have 30 years of proof that Mark is a good singer the vocals on this records early harmonies really needed another take. The performance feels so fragile that when he pushes into a higher register is just feels really awkward. Once the song settles down with a soft guitar riff and Mark's stream of consciousness style songwriting however it improves throughout the runtime. I think the Miller/Salinger comparison is a funny and witty one that shows a little bit of awareness and pen game on Mark's part. Unfortunately the singing returns before the end of the track and while it isn't quite as bad it does make the very emotional story he is telling a bit harder to take seriously. Young Road Trips is the most literal Koz song since Somebody's Favorite Song that is taken a bit literally as Mark reminisces on road trips he took while he was young and compares them to a trip he's taking live. There isn't anything on the track that I am super grabbed by and the stories feel like nothing but loosely collected memories over a steady piano backing. Morning Cherry's title refers to a bar that pops up in Mark's story early on in the 10+ minute song. He does a very typical old man thing and asks some fisherman what they're catching over a charming plucked guitar ling. The second half of the song features one of the longest instrumental breaks on the entire album and it feels like a breath of fresh air on a track that probably didn't need to be 10 minutes long.
Welcome To Sparks, Nevada has its moments but is ultimately an unremarkable addition to Mark's large discography. I like the records stories and instrumental versatility but not enough to justify the over 80 minute runtime. While Mark has done plenty of long records before that I love there are plenty of moments here that I can't help but think drag on. That being said if you've enjoyed Mark's music before you're definitely going to love some pieces of this record particularly the strongest narrative highlights. As for what Mark does next I really don't know and I can't promise to continue reviewing it depending on the subject matter he chooses to address. But for now I think this is in the good not great tier of his 3rd career act. 6.5/10
Album Cover By Tyler Judson:
