May 15, 2009 9:27

Danger Mouse, David Lynch, Sparklehorse album canned over label battle

Risk of legal action forces 'Dark Night Of The Soul' music being pulled

An official CD album of the forthcoming project by Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse and David Lynch, will not be released due to the risk of legal action from Danger Mouse's record label, EMI.

The 'Dark Night Of The Soul' album features vocalists including The Strokes' Julian Casablancas, Iggy Pop and Frank Black – but due to what Danger Mouse (real name Brian Burton) described in a statement as an "ongoing dispute" with the label, it won't be officially released.

The album was set to be released with a book featuring photographs by Lynch. The book will still be released next month, but will come with a blank CD bearing a sticker with the message: "For Legal Reasons, enclosed CD-R contains no music. Use it as you will."

In the statement Burton said he hoped that "people lucky enough to hear the music, by whatever means, are as excited by it as he is".

See the original NME Danger Mouse news story for the full lowdown on the album. Plus see the new issue of NME, out now, for an interview with Burton and Sparklehorse (aka Mark Linkous).