Released just a week after Low’s singer/guitarist Alan Sparhawk announced that the band’s spring 2005 tour was canceled due to his struggles with mental problems, We Could Live in Hope: A Tribute to Low couldn’t have more auspicious timing. The album’s roster — unlike so many tribute albums that feature wannabe and soundalike bands — gathers friends and colleagues like Mark Kozelek, Jessica Bailiff, and His Name Is Alive, making it feel even more like a musical thank-you note and get-well card to the band. We Could Live in Hope pays a fairly faithful homage to Low’s first album that, especially on the first half, keeps the sleepy tempos and glistening guitars and harmonies of the original, particularly on songs like Pale Horse & Rider’s “Fear” and A Northern Chorus’ “Slide.” However, the Strugglers’ version of “Cut” sounds downright rootsy and lively compared to the dead-of-night crawl of Low’s rendition, while Kozelek — whose covers of songs are as different as they are inspired — brings a folky, bittersweet sunniness to the normally dour “Lazy.” Bailiff’s “Down” goes even farther afield, replacing the coziness of the original with a starry-night openness, complete with crickets and trickling water. His Name Is Alive and Nanang Tatang (aka Dan Littleton and Elizabeth Mitchell, formerly of Ida, who were also touring partners/friends with Low) close We Could Live in Hope with a droning, ecstatic take on Low’s simple — and simply lovely — version of “Sunshine.” A tribute in the best sense of the word, We Could Live in Hope reflects the best in both Low and the bands paying their respects to them. – Heather Phares
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