Having spun six albums of country-noir vignettes, the Albuquerque husband/wife duo Brett and Rennie Sparks finally deliver their maiden album of love songs. Heaven forbid, however, that the clichés of such a familiar idiom be used as a creative safety net. Nature’s endless procession of epiphanies finds an exquisite poetic outlet in Little Sparrows and Wild Wood — while Love Is Like hoves into view like a gothic half-cousin to Ewan MacColl’s The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. - Pete Paphides<scan>