Shovels & Rope – Something Is Working Up Above My Head
THE DOG DOESN’T DIE. That was my immediate reaction to the first track I heard from Shovels & Rope’s latest record, Something Is Working Up Above My Head. The appropriately titled “Love Song from a Dog,” featuring vocals from Gregory Alan Isakov, is the rare pup-related country song where the dog don’t die (and, if the dog in question died in real life, I don’t want to know about it). With that worry abated, I could get on with listening to the sixth studio album from the wife and husband duo (Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent). Something Is Working Up Above My Head continues the pair’s tradition of Southern gothic storytelling while attacking their musical accompaniment from an entirely new angle.
Shovels & Rope’s live performances have always been a two-piece affair, with Hearst and Trent trading vocals, drums and whatever instruments they brought with them. For Something Is Working Above My Head, the pair decided to reverse engineer the new tunes in the studio, vowing to use only sounds that could be recreated by the two of them in a live setting – nothing extra – in order to bring their trademark noisy ferocity to the new record. The album’s first song, “Something Is Working,” is a punchy, piano-and-drum number that asks what force guides our subconscious – “Communicating/Illuminating/Feeding on my thoughts/While I’m in my bed.” The next track, “Piranhanana,” truly dives into dark Southern shadows. The fuzzy guitar rocker takes place in a family business, which happens to be a brothel – “Made a living off of feeding off the bottom” – where the family both lives and works – “Prayers up to the father/Got me thinkin’ like why even bother/But she’s about to go and show ‘em what he taught her.”
If that brand of noir is a bit too twisted for your tastes, Shovels & Rope reverts to more comfortable environs – a semi-traditional murder ballad. “Colorado River,” full of harmonies and reverb, starts off placidly enough, with a sense of humor that Hearst and Trent attribute to John Prine – “Hot dog bun/Desert sun/Born to run/On the Colorado River.” Soon enough, the song takes a turn – “Indian ruins/Dull harpoons/Watery tombs” – until enough body parts are found that one can’t help but think of the human remains uncovered during a recent hot, dry summer on Lake Mead – “Water’s getting lower and the picture’s getting bigger/Oh no, Colorado River.” “Two Wolves,” in a squall of guitar, also goes dark, but more internally – “Two wolves under the table/Which one will you feed/When you need to soother a thing/To make it stable” – with the singers egging each other on, wondering which beast – angel or devil – will be sated.
Speaking of canines…we’re back to the dog song. “Love Song from a Dog” was pretty much a last-minute toss-in the duo played while opening for Gregory Alan Isakov that ended up getting a huge reaction (note to young musicians out there – if you open for a Colorado artist like Isakov and sing a song about dog, it’s gonna kill). This tender acoustic tune, featuring a verse sung by Isakov, really is a song about the sweetest of pups – “I lay down dead every time you leave/I can barely breathe/I lock my eyes on the clearing in the trees/’Til you return to me” – in which, and I cannot emphasize this enough, the dog does NOT die. Something Is Working Up Above My Head wraps as it began – with questions of what’s guiding us. “Dass Hymn,” named for spiritual leader Ram Dass, is a prayerful, keyboard-laden tune featuring the duo’s prettiest harmonies, and it asks what’s next while also focusing on what we should be doing with our lives and our loves – “While we’re here, our purpose/Is to walk each other home.” Like Shovels and Rope’s approach to their music, what sounds complex turns out to be simple in the end.
Song I Can’t Wait to Hear Live: “Love Song from a Dog” – It’s a song about a dog. Featuring Gregory Alan Isakov. I’m a Coloradan. What did you expect?
Something Is Working Up Above My Head was produced by Michael Trent, engineered by Trent and Andy Dixon, mixed by Dixon and mastered by Dave McNair. All songs written and performed by Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst.
Go here to order Something Is Working Up Above My Head (out September 6): https://www.dualtonestore.com/collections/shovels-rope
Check out tour dates here: https://www.shovelsandrope.com/home#tour
Enjoy our previous coverage here: REVIEW: Shovels & Rope “Manticore”
