''Singing Bones'' is the sixth studio album released by
The Handsome Family
The Handsome Family is an American music duo consisting of husband and wife Brett and Rennie Sparks formed in Chicago, Illinois, and as of 2001 based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They are perhaps best known for their song " Far from Any Road" from ...
. It was released in 2003 by Carrot Top Records (North America) /
Loose Music
Loose is a British independent record label based in Ladbroke Grove, London.
In 1998, Loose was formed from the vinyl only record label, Vinyl Junkie, which was set up in 1994 by Tom Bridgewater. Loose Music - About
Since 1998, Loose has rele ...
(Europe). It includes a cover of the folk song "
Dry Bones," known from
Bascom Lamar Lunsford
Bascom Lamar Lunsford (March 21, 1882 – September 4, 1973) was a folklorist, performer of traditional Appalachian music, and lawyer from western North Carolina. He was often known by the nickname "Minstrel of the Appalachians."
Biography
...
's 1928 version on
Harry Smith's ''
Anthology of American Folk Music
''Anthology of American Folk Music'' is a three-album compilation, released in 1952 by Folkways Records, of eighty-four recordings of American folk, blues and country music made and issued from 1926 to 1933 by a variety of performers. The album wa ...
''. In 2014, the album received a resurgence of interest when the song "Far from Any Road" was used as the theme song for the
first season of
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
's crime drama ''
True Detective
''True Detective'' is an American anthology crime drama television series created and written by Nic Pizzolatto. The series, broadcast by the premium cable network HBO in the United States, premiered on January 12, 2014. Each season of the ...
''.
Reception
The album was well received by critics: according to
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the album has received an average review score of 85/100, based on 8 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim."
[
]
"Far from Any Road"
Besides its appearance in ''True Detective'', "Far from Any Road" was also used as an opening song for ''Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...
2014 world tour, and during the ending credits of the 2015 ''The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
'' episode "Cue Detective
"Cue Detective" is the second episode of the twenty-seventh season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'', and the 576th episode of the series overall. The episode was directed by Timothy Bailey and written by Joel H. Cohen. ...
."
"Far from Any Road" also charted on SNEP, the official French singles chart, in 2015, reaching number 61.Andrew Bird
Andrew Wegman Bird (born July 11, 1973) is an American indie rock multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. Since 1996, he has released 16 studio albums, as well as several live albums and EPs, spanning various genres including swing musi ...
album ''Things Are Really Great Here, Sort Of…
''Things Are Really Great Here, Sort Of...'' is American singer-songwriter Andrew Bird's eighth solo studio album. It was released on June 3, 2014 through Wegawam Music Co.
The album is a collection of covers of The Handsome Family, an American ...
''.
Track listing
# "The Forgotten Lake" – 3:46
# "Gail with the Golden Hair" – 3:16
# "24-Hour Store" – 4:52
# "The Bottomless Hole" – 3:16
# "Far from Any Road" – 2:48
# "If the World Should End in Fire" – 1:09
# "A Shadow Underneath" – 3:44
# " Dry Bones" – 3:16
# "Fallen Peaches" – 2:59
# "Whitehaven" – 2:46
# "Sleepy" – 3:08
# "The Song of a Hundred Toads" – 2:28
# "If the World Should End in Ice" – 1:08
References
External links
The Handsome Family official website
2003 albums
The Handsome Family albums
Carrot Top Records albums
Loose Music albums
{{2000s-country-album-stub