| Oh My God, Charlie Darwin | ||||
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 2009 reissue cover[1] | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 2, 2008 | |||
| Recorded | January 1–10, 2008 | |||
| Studio | Block Island, Rhode Island[a] | |||
| Genre | Americana | |||
| Length | 41:56 | |||
| Label | Self-published | |||
| Producer |
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| The Low Anthem chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Oh My God, Charlie Darwin | ||||
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Oh My God, Charlie Darwin is the third studio album by American band the Low Anthem. It was self-published on September 2, 2008, and reissued by Bella Union and Nonesuch Records in June 2009. Following the success of their album What the Crow Brings (2007), founding members Ben Knox Miller and Jeffrey Prystowsky welcomed Jocie Adams to the band. They were inspired by the confidence and romanticism of John Steinbeck's novels, and found tension between the human requirement of comfort and Charles Darwin's bleak theories of Darwinism, using his theory of natural selection as a framework to consider academics, politics, and religion. The album is named after Darwin, as the group considered how jarring his "survival of the fittest" theory would seem to a person of faith.
The album was recorded in the first ten days of 2008 in a basement in Block Island, Rhode Island, which was transformed into a temporary recording studio. The band enlisted Jesse Lauter to co-produce the album. The Americana sound is accompanied by several other genres, such as blues, country, folk, gospel, and R&B. It opens with quiet songs in Miller's falsetto and modal voice, followed by louder and chaotic tracks, before returning to more solemn music. The album incorporates at least 27 instruments, including crotales, pump organ, and zither. Some songs evolved extensively during recording, with several different approaches to tempo and instrumentation. The album consists of twelve tracks, one of which is a cover of a Tom Waits song written by Jack Kerouac.
The album was supported by two singles: "Charlie Darwin" in September 2009, and "To the Ghosts Who Write History Books" in February 2010. The Low Anthem toured North America and Europe after the album's release. Word-of-mouth support boosted its popularity; it charted in Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, and sold 75,000 copies worldwide. Critics praised Oh My God, Charlie Darwin for its lyrics, themes, and vocals but a few questioned the necessity and intensity of the louder songs. At the Boston Music Awards, the Low Anthem and Oh My God, Charlie Darwin won Best New Act and Album of the Year, respectively. Various publications listed it as one of the best albums of the year.
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