Handsome Family still delightfully dark

The creepy "Spider" sets the tone for Rennie and Brett Sparks' new Wilderness album 

Enter the dark forest of The Handsome Family and let the beautiful branches surround you. Wild animals, tall tales, and dark stories from American history populate the lyrics of their forthcoming album Wilderness. Appalachian holler, psychedelic rock, tin pan alley, and medieval music continue to inform The Handsome Family’s unique brand of Americana, while their affinity for old-tyme ballads and clawhammer banjo has never sounded so seamlessly connected to their use of samples, loops, and sonic effects.

A companion book of original artwork and essays by Rennie Sparks, also titled Wilderness, will expand on the meticulously researched and little-known enigmas of the natural world explored on the album: immortal jellyfish, woodpecker tongues, dancing octopi, fly royalty, the secret language of crows, and mysterious ant spirals.

The album will be released by Carrot Top on May 14 as an LP, CD, and a super deluxe LP box set that sounds like something hardcore Handsome Family fans are gonna need. "The deluxe box set of Wilderness includes a full-color, fine-art version of the aforementioned Wilderness companion book, the LP and also a poster and postcards featuring Rennie Sparks’ colorful animal imagery."

"Spider" by The Handsome Family