Family, the follow up to debut album The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nation's Millenium General Assembly (long title, I know), was released in September of 2009 and marks a new direction in the Le Loup's sound. No longer relying heavily on synthesizers, keyboard loops, or electronics. Instead focusing on the natural sounds of their instruments and subjecting those to different effects. The album, recorded in a remote cabin in Maryland and produced by bandmembers Sam Simkoff and Christian Ervin, features the completed Le Loup lineup who all share songwriting credits creating a broad tapestry of sound that is primal sounding with vestiges of the sonic experimentation of the first album, mixing elements of freak folk, jungle pop rock, and sometimes surf rock. Cited as one of the influences of Judah Dadone (from Freelance Whales) it's not hard to see why. Le Loup's songcraft features slowly evolving musical pictures with an emphasis on the instrumental that focuses on establish the tracks' individual mood before the vocals enter. With several tracks on Family, the vocals even seem a bit secondary to the driving tribal pulse instead seeming to augment the instrumentals to create a much more rich aural experience. Highlights of the album are "Morning Song" and the almost 8 minute closer "A Celebration" but the whole album works as a cohesive unit, an organic sonic growth that hypnotizes with its simple minimalism. Le Loup has definitely come a long way since their banjo-centric debut taking what they did well and refining it while also adding several new sounds and qualities that make Family a definite favorite.
Hear the band's more mature sound with the music video directed by Matthew Lessner for "Forgive Me":
Le Loup - "Forgive Me" from Hardly Art on Vimeo.
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