The husband and wife duo of Brett and Rennie Sparks, aka The Handsome Family, have become better looking, as a cross-over prospect, with each album release. Singing Bones, their first album since relocating from Chicago is evidence of that, though the relocation is only part of the process – it is as much to do with the maturity and refinement of their skills as writers and players. Rennie’s offbeat lyrical stories are not the stuff of normal chart-orientated contemporary country song content, while Brett’s dungeon deep voice has just gotten better and better.
Brett’s massed choir on ‘If The World Should End In Fire’ shows just how well he has mastered his voice as an instrument whilst he also demonstrates his skills as a multi-instrumentalist to stunning effect making music at home in their den for themselves first and foremost. It all hangs together superbly courtesy of the inspired songwriting, with music that matches the lyrics in its evocation of a shadowy twilight world where the bizarre blends with the prosaic.
At times the feeling is that Tim Burton should be directing their videos, as this is gothic country at its best. Singing Bones is a record that demands you sit back and let the sounds flow over you, and enjoy the experience for what it is; hugely entertaining music that puts some of the story telling back into their highly individual take on country music. The Handsome Family’s time may well be at hand, and it may be that their kind of amily value are exactly what we need right now.