ALBUM REVIEW: Charisma Wins on Shovels & Rope’s ‘Something Is Working Up Above My Head’

With their new album, Something Is Working Up Above My Head, the Charleston, SC-based duo Shovels & Rope continue to display their affinity for rock-leaning Americana. The album follows 2022’s Manticore, which was steeped in the agitation and uncertainty of the Covid era. This time, Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent draw from the more boisterous vibe of earlier work, particularly 2012’s O’ Be Joyful and 2014’s Swimmin’ Time.

“Something Is Working” highlights Hearst and Trent’s infectious chemistry as they tap into a blend of radio-friendly hooks, gospel-slanted timbres, and roadhouse sonics. “I’d Be Lying”, meanwhile, slows things down. Hearst’s voice is prominent, Trent’s background vocal adds significant texture. Lyrically, the track is oblique enough to stave off simplistic interpretations, though various images point to disorientation and self-destructive tendencies (“Are you hanging on a dead line?” and “Pirouetting on the edge of a razor blade”).

With “Pirahanana,” the duo’s vocals are perfectly blended. Their voices are undergirded by a buzzy guitar that pays tribute to their neo-punk, garage-revival heroes like The Strokes and The White Stripes. “Colorado River” captures Hearst and Trent’s adrenalized simpatico, unfurling as a maximalist tale re: death (“The blood would spill”), secrets (“What they gonna find on the Colorado River?”), and living in anticipation of violence (“I can still remember how it’d feel / when the air got still”). Like “Pirahanana,” “Colorado River” is built around a grungy guitar line that grinds and flows throughout the track.

Led by a quieter Trent, the metaphoric “Love Song from a Dog” conjures Hollywood romance (“I lay down dead every time you leave”). Repeated use of the word “running” points to the way innocent attraction can evolve into problematic, even toxic enmeshment. With “Salt Tooth”, Trent moves between crooning and snarling, Hearst joins sultrily on the chorus. The mix has a live feel as the drums and guitars often elbow for space. The vocals, while mostly complementary, intermittently collide. Throughout, Hearst and Trent illustrate how love (and the creative process) can be both synergetic and fractious, as two people navigate the spectrum between individuality and collaboration.

The performances on Something Is Working Up Above My Head, though compelling, are generally less dynamic than those on previous albums. The 2012 and 2014 LPs, as well as 2016’s Little Seeds, contained more sustained tension, which in turn made well-timed catharses that much more memorable. This new album is more emotionally full-bore; there’s less steam and more eruption, less stoking and more release.

Ultimately, it’s Hearst and Trent’s charisma, their ability to enchant each other, that wins the day. They can’t take their eyes off each other, and we can’t take our eyes off them.

Shovels & Ropes’ ‘Something Is Working Up Above My Head’ is out Sep. 6 on Dualtone Records.