Low channels spirits on latest record, 'C'mon'

Scott Mervis, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. April 21, 2011

During the height of the grunge movement in the early '90s, Low came along as the antidote, with a slow, pretty, minimalist sound that would become known, whether the band liked it or not, as "slowcore" or "sadcore."

Of course, you can only build from there, and over nine albums that's what the Duluth, Minn., band has done, without straying too far from the original concept. The growth began with 1999's "Secret Name" and has continued through such indie classics as "Things We Lost in the Fire" and "The Great Destroyer." At the heart of the trio are the beautiful, calming sometimes chilling harmonies of husband-wife team guitarist Alan Sparhawk and drummer Mimi Parker.

In 2007, Low issued the David Fridman-produced "Drums and Guns," an unsettling, war-torn record filled with off-kilter percussion. It's now followed that with the more hopeful, characteristic "C'mon."

"On 'Drums and Guns' we were intentionally messing with our own system," says Mr. Sparhawk, "using sounds that we don't normally use, messing with the texture and structure of the song till it's barely there. It was a very contrary record. We were definitely pushing against what we'd done, doing some opposites. I knew that the next thing we did would swing in the opposite direction. It didn't know what that would be, but I figured it would be something that was more pretty. But you really can't tell. I've never been able to say, 'Let's make a record that's like this now.' With these songs, it just didn't feel right to be dissonant or noisy with them."

On "C'mon," Low works its way back to more lush and flowing territory, using the sound of an old church to add echoey atmosphere.

"The church, as one might expect, has reverb, a much larger resonance, all the weight that a space like that carries," the singer says. "I really believe that space and objects kind of hold the spirits of people that have been there and things that have happened, and what tension was there. It's like carrying around a wad of cash -- it just holds certain energy. Whether you believe in religion or not, you have to believe that people with very real intentions and concerns occupied that space. We could just tell by the songs we had that would be something ideal."

Low made an unusual choice, co-producing with Matt Beckley, whose credits include working with the likes of Katy Perry and Avril Lavigne.

"I kind of like the challenge of putting the songs through someone else's filter," Mr. Sparhawk says. "Seve Albini [who produced Low's early work] brings a very old school kind of Church of the Sonic Analog sound. David Fridman [who worked on 'Great Destroyer' and 'Drums and Guns'] has a really extreme sound, finding things that don't happen in nature, and [Matt] has a lot of experience with pop records, working with people like Dr. Luke. It just so happened we were friends with someone from that world."

There was no fear they would come out sounding like Avril, Katy or Ke$ha?

"No, I don't think anyone could make us sound like that," he says laughing. "Nothing against it. It would be fun to try."

The closest that Low has gotten to the mainstream came last year when the band was graced by Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant, who covered two songs from "The Great Destroyer" -- "Monkey" and the Grammy-nominated "Silver Rider" -- on his latest album.

"Finding out about that was so bizarre and surreal I had to check on the Internet to find out if it was true," Mr. Sparhawk says. "We didn't find out about it till he was done and it was announced. What a flattering thing. I always had this weird dream of somebody like Barbra Streisand or Neil Diamond or someone singing one of my songs, but Robert Plant, for sure, ranks up there."

It might not bring a flood of Zeppelin fans out to the shows, but it was a nice boost for the band, which is approaching the 20-year mark, an impressive feat for a couple also balancing family life.

"You're juggling a lot of things at one time," the singer says. "People say, 'How do you separate the two?' Well, you don't. You just accept the fact that you're in a band together and married, too, and the emotions and interactions and frustrations and the joys all feed into the relationship and happen freely back and forth. Adding kids, it's a lot of work. You liken it to running your own business from home, and maybe we're like gypsies carrying our kids around."