Thirty years into a career of music making, 2024 finds Alan Sparhawk entering uncharted territory. Sparhawk co-founded the band Low alongside vocalist and drummer Mimi Parker, who passed away in late 2022. Their music derived elemental power from its fearless exploration of quiet, gentle places. Low released thirteen albums and influenced a movement of spacious, graceful, intimate, and ever-evolving music.

Over time, Low’s anthemic songs heightened in urgency and tone, unearthing new layers of musical exploration and lyrical questioning. Their final album, Grammy nominated “Hey What,” was released in 2021 to universal acclaim and marked a high point in their musical evolution and trajectory.

Although he is obviously (and justifiably) best known for his thirty years in Low, a look at Sparhawk’s many side projects across that same span of time shows him experimenting with everything from punk and funk to production work and improvisation. Low itself never settled for a set sound or approach. The band was always a collaboration — a conversation, a romance — between Sparhawk and his wife, Mimi Parker, who was the band’s co-founder, drummer, co-lead vocalist, and its blazing irreplaceable heart. Parker passed away in 2022 after a long battle with cancer.

There is no question that White Roses, My God is a record borne of grief. However, it would be reductive, even foolish, to see grief as the sole source or the final limit of this taut, brilliant, provocative, thrilling album, whose bold experimentation is powered by profound lyrics and propulsive beats. White Roses, My God is an exorcism whose purpose is not to banish the spirit but to set it free.

Sparhawk has recently been playing with various collaborators and projects with friends and family members, including guest appearances with Yo La Tengo, Trampled by Turtles, Peder Mannerfelt, Charlie Parr, and funk band Derecho Rhythm Section. Alan Sparhawk’s tour schedule in support of White Roses, My God begins November 2nd, 2024, in Dublin, IE, at Opium and currently ends January 25th, 2025, in Denver at the Bluebird.

This announcement features a new, eight-date headlining run in the US (Jan. 13th-25th), which includes a stop at Brooklyn’s Elsewhere on April 5th. These shows will follow his previously announced 2024 dates — UK/EU headline dates (Nov. 2nd-5th), an appearance at Pitchfork Music Festival London at The Barbican with Jessica Pratt (Nov. 6th), and support dates with Godspeed You! Black Emperor (Nov. 8th-24th).

Alan Sparhawk has always been a prolific, protean musician. A restless soul eager to explore unfamiliar sonic and psychic terrain. Though he’s obviously (and justifiably) best-known for his thirty years as frontman of the legendary band Low, a look at Sparhawk’s many side projects across that same span of time shows him experimenting with everything from punk and funk to production work and improvisation. Low itself never settled for a set sound or approach. The band was always a collaboration — a conversation, a romance — between Sparhawk and his wife, Mimi Parker, who was the band’s co-founder, drummer, co-lead vocalist, and its blazing irreplaceable heart. To take the journey from Low’s hushed early work, through the tremendous melodies of their middle period, all the way to the late lush chaos of their final albums, is to witness heads, hearts, and spirits in an act of perpetual becoming.

Parker passed away in 2022 after a long battle with cancer, and there is no question that WHITE ROSES, MY GOD is a record borne of grief. You can hear it in the title, as well as tracks such as “Heaven,” in which Sparhawk describes the afterlife, wrenchingly, as “a lonely place if you’re alone.” You can sense it too in Sparhawk’s decision to create this thing entirely on his own: every note, every lyric, every programmed beat. It would be reductive, even foolish, to see grief as the sole source or the final limit of this taut, brilliant, provocative, thrilling album, whose bold experimentation is powered by profound lyrics and propulsive beats.