Low was fronted by Sparhawk and Mimi Parker. The duo were married, and their lyrics often chronicled their partnership, parenthood and growing old with poetic candor and angelic harmonies. One of their most memorable songs, “In Metal,” explores Parker’s love for their young child - still a toddler but growing fast - with uncanny imagery that’s both shocking and tender: “Partly hate to see you grow / And just like your baby shoes / Wish i could keep your little body / In metal.”

That song was from 2001’s Things We Lost in the Fire, their eighth album. The band was by this point a well-established concern. Masterfully recorded by Steve Albini (the engineer behind Nirvana's In Utero, The Pixies’ Surfer Rosa and PJ Harvey’s Rid of Me), the album’s rich sonic landscape, filled with intricately articulated silences and haunting spaciousness, matched a newly ratched ambition in songcraft. Previously, some critics had dismissed the group as a notable curiosity, even perhaps creatively waning. Things We Lost in the Fire set the record straight, and solidified Low as one of the landmark indie bands of the 21st century.

This was a moment of expansiveness for the group. Alongside their songwriting chops and recording budget, the band was building up their sonic palette. While their breakout releases could plausibly have been tracked at home (I Could Live in Hope sounds like the best kind of late night living room recording), their 2000’s run saw them approaching mainstream sheen without picking up the pace. At the edges, they were also beginning to reflect the creeping influence of their Kranky cohort. An eerie remix by dub techno outliers Porter Ricks recast the group amidst a mist of crumpled reverbl; unnerving distortions were artfully deployed over their immaculate structures; string sections were brought it and mixed deep into the background.

All this would set the ground for Low’s late-career rebirth as digital noise sculptors. 2018’s Double Negative is one of the great curveballs in modern music. The opening swells of static bring to mind sludgy industrial techno, and when the chords and those unmistakable vocals emerge from the undertow it’s a revelation. The rest of the album builds from there, at times calling back more clearly to their earlier work, while elsewhere diving into the thrilling new terrain. What remains a constant is Low’s capacity to haunt. The album lingers over moments of searching, uncertain poignancy. “See the little children at your knees / I heard you moved back and got a house out east / Everybody says that the war is over / It isn't something you forget so easily / Saw your shit downtown at the gallery,” they sing on “Always Trying To Work It Out,” while tweaking their voices like Future.

In late 2022, Parker passed away following a battle with ovarian cancer. Continuing the band without her would be unthinkable, but it’s an inevitability that anything Sparhawk does will be an extension of their collaboration - indeed, their life together. In perhaps a morbid twist, Sparhawk and Parker’s music, so rich in its exploration of grief, sorrow and struggle, is the perfect vehicle to express the singular pain of a devastating personal loss. We don’t know what he’ll be performing at Outline, but he’ll be joined on stage by friends and family, including special guest Shahzad Ismaily. It’s an honor to welcome him to Knockdown Center, especially at such a pivotal moment.