The Low Anthem - Oh My God! Charlie Darwin [Album]

Bella Union

July 20, 2009, 03:10 PM

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The Low Anthem sit comfortably as part of the newly fashionable 'new wave' of Americana which has seeped into public consciousness over the last 12 months through Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver via their critically and commercially successful debut albums. The Low Anthem arrive at these shores via their third album in as many years as comparative veterans of the scene, and from the evidence of their quirky titled album 'Oh My God, Charlie Darwin' the time spent honing their sound has paid dividends.

It's a beautiful, subtle start to a beautiful, subtle album with the semi-title track 'Charlie Darwin'. An elegiac and affecting chord progression is plucked out on a soft acoustic guitar as frontman Ben Knox Miller sings in a voice that manages to bridge the gaps between Jonsi from Sigur Ros and Neil Young. The track is backed by such sparse, haunting instrumentation it feels as though it could fall to dust at any second, yet it holds up remarkably. The liner notes tell us a singing bowl was involved, I have no idea what a singing bowl is and have no intention of finding out, but if it's the instrument providing those dense, fog-horn chords I approve. 'To Ohio' follows much the same pattern but with a much clearer, more countrified approach that brings to mind a slightly more developed take on one of the songs off Springsteens peerless 'Nebraska' album or anything Mark Kozalek has ever put to tape. It's melody is well worn but effective and the lyrics tell a heartbreaking tale of lost love. It's a theme and a sound which carries onto 'Ticket Taker', a track which marks a perfect trio of opening tracks, it's a dark, harrowing song with a desolate air of grace.

With track four 'The Horizon Is A Beltway', The Low Anthem change gears completely with a drunken, bar room holler-along which recalls Tom Waits at his most brutal (fitting considering the song which is to follow). It's a shocking change of pace for an album which I honestly believed I had sussed out by now and it comes at just the right point. Millers proclamations of "the skyline on fire" sound desperate and dangerous, backed by a thundering bass and dustbin lid drums. It's a dirty hoe-down that sets up 'Home I'll Never Be' (a Tom Waits cover from his most recent triple album "Orphans"). Very few artists can pull off a Waits cover effectively (Scarlett Johannson springs to mind) but The Low Anthem succeed by taking a song which was once a dark, smoky ballad and infusing it with a spark and energy which the man himself will no doubt be very proud of.

The album shifts back down a gear with 'Cage The Songbird', a song which will probably bring the band comparisons with the afore-mentioned Fleet Foxes. It's another gentle, acoustic song but the delicate harmonies here supplied by the rest of the band (multi-instrumentalists Jeffrey Prystowsky and Jocie Adams) add an extra dimension to the sound that carries the song beyond mere filler material. In fact there's a stately calm on display here that almost rivals slowcore pioneers 'Low' for hushed loveliness; truly wonderful stuff. '(Don't) Tremble' takes the record to an even more humble place with a whispered vocal from Miller backed by a sole acoustic guitar, it's a lovely little song but it's lack of a definable melody marks it out as one of the albums weaker songs. The lyrics here really shine though with some tragic imagery ("if the wind surrounds your house, just wait it out, if your hand should lose it's grip, do not tremble, do not slip") that highlights the Low Anthems way with a turn of phrase which in lesser hands would come across as trite and predictable.

'Music Box' starts off with (yes you guessed it) an old fashioned music box spinning out a lonely, disjointed melody that progresses slowly over time into an organic thing of beauty that brings to mind the retro experiments of Iceland's MuM. It's hardly inspiring stuff and marks more of an interlude than a song in it's own right, but it's lovely all the same. 'Champion Angel' bursts into life over a Rolling Stones rock & roll beat and a gruff vocal take from Miller, it's a bit of an anomaly on the record, a song which is energetic without holding that overbearing sense of menace. It's a powerful, engaging pop-rock song and if anything it would be interesting to hear The Low Anthem try a few more songs of this ilk next time round. 'To The Ghosts' ranks as the albums most resolutely downbeat song with a funeral pace and droning organ chords barely holding aloft the most passionate and yet deflated vocal performance on the album. It's the sound of arriving home after years of travel only to find everyone you used to know is gone. The throw-away ditty 'OMGCD' and the reprise of 'To Ohio' are frankly unnecessary and are possibly the only blips on an otherwise almost faultless album. They do in no way however, dampen the effect of the 10 songs that preceded them and as the CD clicks to a halt my first instinct was to start it again right away. This is as strong a compliment as can be given to any body of work.

'Oh My God, Charlie Darwin' is a tragic, beautiful little record that stands alongside Bon Iver's 'For Emma Forever Ago' as one of the greatest ever American folk albums 'recorded in a cabin', transcendent stuff.

Tracklisting:-
1. Charlie Darwin
2. To Ohio
3. Ticket Taker
4. The Horizon Is A Beltway
5. Home I'll Never Be
6. Cage The Songbird
7. (Don't) Tremble
8. Music Box
9. Champion Angel
10. To The Ghosts Who Wrote History Books
11. OMGCD
12. To Ohio (Reprise)

Recommended:-
Charlie Darwin, To Ohio, Ticket Taker, Home I'll Never Be, Cage The Songbird, Champion Angel, To The Ghosts Who Wrote History Books

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