Review of Oh My God, Charlie Darwin Album by The Low Anthem

Review of The Low Anthem's album 'Oh My God, Charlie Darwin' released through Bella Union.

The Low Anthem Oh My God, Charlie Darwin Album

Usually the process of summing up a bands sound is a pretty simple one. Even the most adventurous of bands usually find a niche and stick too it, varying over years rather than songs. This is not true in the case of The Low Anthem, at least insofar as their third album 'Oh My God, Charlie Darwin' is concerned.

Yet by no means is '...Charlie Darwin' a particularly 'adventurous' album, it merely feels more like a mixtape than the work of a single band. The haunting acoustic folk of the title track introduces the album in a hushed tone, all sleepy vocals and sweet strums. Follow up 'To Ohio' doesn't tread much further out, with multi-part harmonies ringing clear and finger-picking painting a hazy background.

Several songs later however and this is traded for rough-edged Americana punctuated with snarled shouts and clattering drums. These are bruised high-octane numbers which sit much closer to modern day bluegrass revivalists such as Murder By Death and O'death.

When 'Champion Angels' brings in the final third of the album with its Bob-Dylan esque country-blues any minute traces of cohesion are blown away completely. Which isn't a knock on the quality of the song, or the rest of the album. The twelve tracks that span 'Oh My God, Charlie Darwin' are for the most part both enjoyable and memorable, and yet they lack any common uniting factor that makes an album truly special and worthy of repeated listens.

7/10

Jordan Dowling


Site - http://www.lowanthem.com

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