The Low Anthem: “Matter Of Time”
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Every summer, the small Rhode Island town of Newport plays host to the now legendary Newport Folk Festival. In 2008, the members of the Low Anthem were volunteering at the festival, but by the following year, the band was one of its buzz-worthy acts.
The Low Anthem’s quick rise can be attributed to their smart and often cerebral brand of folk music. The band boasts four multi-instrumentalists that often change instruments mid-set, and each bring their own ideas to a varying arsenal of sounds. While rooted in the folk tradition, their music also has an experimental bent. They utilize everything from a singing saw and harmonium to cell phones and shakers made from pill bottles.
2008′s Oh My God, Charlie Darwin was their breakout album, but this year’s Smart Flesh builds on that momentum. Recorded in an abandoned Rhode Island pasta factory, the group had to constantly reshape the songs to fit the temperamental acoustics of the building. Their precision was apparent when they recently stopped by KUT’s Studio 1A for a live session. Much of this live recording was approached in an old-school folk fashion: the band huddling around a single microphone, adjusting volume and arrangement based on the interaction of the individual instruments and musicians.
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