The Low Anthem's Nonesuch debut, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, is out today. The album receives a Paste rating of 90 and is described in the review as "gorgeous chamber folk," another step in "the evolution of folk music ... following the path cleared by Nick Drake and Tim Buckley." Paste concludes: "[T]hese 12 songs are exquisite." The Boston Phoenix hears ties to Tom Waits's Mule Variations in this "excellent" new record, "moving gently among sepia-toned arrangements of pump organs and clarinets and gruff barnyard blues."
The Low Anthem's Nonesuch debut, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, is out today. The album, beautifully re-mastered for the release by longtime Nonesuch collaborator Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios, receives a Paste rating of 90 and is described by the magazine's Josh Jackson in his review as "gorgeous chamber folk."
Jackson sees the album as another step in "the evolution of folk music ... following the path cleared by Nick Drake and Tim Buckley, and now well trod by folks like Sufjan Stevens and Sam Beam." He cites in particular those tunes that showcase the "delicate vocals" of singer Ben Knox Miller "backed by an assortment of quirky instrumentation." NPR has also called attention to such tunes, naming "To Ohio" a Song of the Day and, in this week's episode of All Songs Considered, insisting of the song "Charlie Darwin," "If you listen to just one song today, make it this opening track to the new CD by The Low Anthem."
Even with these stand-outs, Jackson is sure to lay praise on each of the album's tunes. "Whether soft or loud, these 12 songs are exquisite."
Read the full review at pastemagazine.com.
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The Boston Phoenix, from the northern neighbor of The Low Anthem's hometown of Providence, spoke with the band's Jeff Prystowsky about their recording process for the album, diligently assembled in the quiet of a winter on Block Island, of Rhode Island's coast. The result, says Phoenix music writer Matt Parish, the "excellent" record that is Oh My God, Charlie Darwin.
That recording process, says Parish, and the band's self-sequestering for it, comes through on album. He writes:
The record does bear the qualities of a field recording or a snapshot. Moving gently among sepia-toned arrangements of pump organs and clarinets and gruff barnyard blues, it could be a look-for-look response to Tom Waits's Mule Variations. You'll find the same blunt guitar strings, the same dull organ reeds, the same lonesome harmonicas. Characters shuffle off into oblivion, clinging to soil and history books while the world moves on in a stylistic push-and-pull.
You'll find the complete article, including Parish's conversation with Prystowsky, at thephoenix.com.
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