REVIEW: The Low Anthem - Smart Flesh

The Low Anthem
Smart Flesh
(Nonesuch)
(out of 5)

I must admit that I was predisposed to like The Low Anthem, based solely upon the title of their previous release, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin. Luckily for my prejudice, I was not let down.

Smart Flesh is a sumptuous, folky cruise through the deep dark of heartness. From the first seconds of ‘Ghost Woman Blues’, one is transported into a lulling Americana-scape scorched with a squeeze of sharp lemon. This is an album from which one can expect to get mileage - no fly-by-nighters here. It’s the sort of LP that is only enriched by further listening.

As of now, my favourite track is ‘Apothecary Love’, an earnest country ballad with enough wry shadows in the lyrics and harmonicas in the bridge to keep things intriguing. ‘I’ll Take Out Your Ashes’ is sad and regretful.

Its sound is appropriately bluesy and its depiction of a man consumed with guilt is poignant. The other tracks are full of thoughtful reflection and slow country folk, underscored with subtle, plucky banjos.

At times, the vocals put me in mind of a young James Taylor, but with something more. Recorded half in a freezing pasta sauce factory and half in an ex-alligator breeding compound, Smart Flesh is a surprisingly cosy and mammalian album; good listening on rainy nights or red evenings.

The Low Anthem - Apothecary Love

By Alex P