Artist The Low Anthem

Website
The Low Anthem

Using the warm, internal hum of antique instruments, The Low Anthem finds a simplicity and humanness in making modern music in traditional ways. The Rhode Island foursome gracefully grinds away at gospel hymns with accordions, horns, a World War I-era pump organ, and, yes, even the occasional electric guitar. The multi-instrumentalists also share vocal duties, giving 2008’s Oh My God, Charlie Darwin recorded life to the band’s live and labored sound. The band doesn’t step far from its old-world bubble on the this year’s Smart Flesh—the fact that the record was partially tracked in an empty factory-cum-makeshift studio probably lent an added air of antiquity.

Updated 09/21/2011