Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of A Mountain
Capitol, 2006
REVIEW BY: Melanie Love
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 11/02/2006
If you’re anyone but me, the answer would be a resounding no, since car repairs (not to mention gas) tends to cancel out the cost of a $10 CD. But it’s hard to deny the music reviewer part of my brain, and since you’re probably wondering, I was right: Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain is absolutely fantastic.
This is a triumphant release for Sparklehorse (led and anchored by vocalist, lyricist and multi-instrumentalist Mark Linkous), one that was five years in the making due to Linkous’ debilitating drug addiction and his struggle with depression. For the most part, this album was recorded in bits and pieces; one song is a reshaped B-side, another was leftover from 2001’s It’s A Wonderful Life, a few came out of work with Danger Mouse and the rest are new tracks laid down in Linkous’ own studio.
Okay, so it sounds like a mishmash that definitely shouldn’t work, but each element comes together to create a surprisingly cohesive release. Just listen to the one-two punch of “Don’t Take My Sunshine Away” and then “Getting It Wrong:” the former is an upbeat (in instrumentation, anyway, since the lyrics are a plea to not be abandoned by his lover), folk-rocker with bright, clear harmonies – which is then quickly countered by the subdued, crackling beat and dark, distorted vocals of “Getting It Wrong.”
Dreamt for Light Years shines most notably on its foray into the sunshine-pop of “Shade and Honey” and “Some Sweet Day.” Both tracks are quietly beautiful, a shot of optimism with intimate vocals, catchy choruses and Linkous’ usual evocative imagery in lines like “Stars are dying in my chest until I see you again” or “She was my black earth and the fire in my spine / her magnetic waves gave birth / I was the one who loved you most but you can’t put your arms around a ghost.” Another standout in the same vein is “Return To Me,” which balances its breathy, despairing delivery with subtle acoustic guitar and a delicately hopeful sentiment.
And for its share of mope, the album has a few rockers thrown in, like “Ghost In The Sky” (the aforementioned rescued B-side) and “It’s Not So Hard” featuring vocals drowned in crunchy, abrasive guitars and driving beats.
Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain is one of those rare albums that lures you in with a track or two and ends up fixing you there beneath the power of its entirety. For all its contradictions, Linkous has created a unified work, one that was definitely worth the five-year wait.