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Low’s Alan Sparhawk on the death of his wife and bandmate Mimi Parker: ‘If you fall in love, you know this could happen’

Sparhawk spent four decades with Parker, three of them as the core of alt-rock legends Low, before she died from cancer aged 55. He discusses finding his new, digitally-altered voice amid grief – and why he’s channelling Cher

‘One of my deepest hopes is that Mimi can continue to be the light …” Alan Sparhawk pulls his arms up tight around his head, covering his face and entangling his fingers in his long, curly hair. Instead, there are nods towards the final two albums the band released – 2018’s Double Negative and Hey What, issued in 2021, after Parker’s cancer was diagnosed – when layers of distortion transformed sets of seemingly straightforward songs into undeniably challenging material. Songs such as Don’t Take Your Light Out of Me and Screaming burned with self-evident agonies; JCMF (Jesus Christ Mother Fucker) seethed with fury at the unfairness this lifelong Mormon had had thrust into his world.

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