The Low Anthem embraces honesty over hype

Despite their rising popularity, the folk-pop group is planning a temporary hiatus to explore new creative directions

With a haunting, melancholy sound and a series of tour dates with Canadian music royalty City & Colour, the members of The Low Anthem seem to be on their way to becoming the next big thing in indie music — if that’s what they want. But for the time being, it seems that not even founding member Jeff Prystowsky knows what the future holds for the band.

The five-piece group from Providence, Rhode Island, have amassed a repertoire of tender, otherworldly songs since they came together in 2006. After the enormous critical response to the re-release of their third album Oh My God, Charlie Darwin in 2009, the group graduated from small local shows to playing with a who’s who of top acts. But despite the success of Charlie Darwin and their follow-up Smart Flesh in 2011, The Low Anthem announced they would be on hiatus after their current tour. While it seems like an unusual move, Prystowsky isn’t worried about losing the group’s current momentum — the break is necessary, he says, to allow the band to continue to explore new musical ideas.

“We’re working on a new sound ... when we come back on the road we will have a completely new show,” he says. “We kind of settled into a certain sound. We want to change that up: have (The Low Anthem) get into electric, pedals, the tightness of louder music. A lot more rock, dirty house blues and garage rock.”

The group has a history of experimenting with different musical styles, recording an album under the name Snake Wagon to escape the “restrained, minimalist” sound they originally embodied. The resulting record, Have Fun With Snake Wagon, showcases their focus on staying on their toes in the music business.

“(Snake Wagon) was an idea we had since I was writing these kind of funny, satirical songs ... We just started to play them, and we found out that doing this was a really refreshing way for us to play music. That kind of spirit is what we needed. Snake Wagon allowed us to get back to why we started playing.”

With their Snake Wagon side project, the members of The Low Anthem had a chance to let go and express themselves outside of fears or expectations about what they should sound like.

“I was at an Irish bar last night, and some old guys came in with their instruments and just started playing. And sure, they made little mistakes, but they didn’t care, because it wasn’t about that. They were just there to play some spiritual songs, and we can’t do that with spiritual songs, but we can do that with Snake Wagon songs, because they are these hilarious songs that just allow everyone to relax and get back to that place where everyone can jam along and not take ourselves so seriously.”

And while The Low Anthem’s music matches the kind of sensitive, ethereal acoustic sound currently in demand in the indie world, Prystowsky maintains that they’re ready to change, regardless of the popularity they’ve already managed to gain.

“We don’t really care about (momentum),” he says. “Part of having something to say, I think, is challenging yourself … We wanted to stay on our toes, turn a page. We’ve never been afraid to experiment, and this is just another one of those moments.”

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