Kurt Wagner has been the uncontested leader of Lambchop since the group debuted in 1993, and while he clearly values the contribution of his many collaborators, his songs and his creative vision has always been the driving force behind their music. So one of the biggest surprises in Lambchop's 2022 album The Bible is how much he ceded control as it was being made. Wagner wrote the bulk of the lyrics while he was looking after his father who was struggling with a variety of health issues, and as he wrestled with his ...
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Kurt Wagner has been the uncontested leader of Lambchop since the group debuted in 1993, and while he clearly values the contribution of his many collaborators, his songs and his creative vision has always been the driving force behind their music. So one of the biggest surprises in Lambchop's 2022 album The Bible is how much he ceded control as it was being made. Wagner wrote the bulk of the lyrics while he was looking after his father who was struggling with a variety of health issues, and as he wrestled with his insecurities, he turned to musician Andrew Broder (who records under the moniker Fog) for help. Wagner invited Broder to improvise a series of piano pieces that he used as beds for his new songs, and then Broder and his production partner Ryan Olson took the material into the studio. Using a small army of Minneapolis-based musicians, they created the tracks that became The Bible. Despite all this, The Bible is audibly a Lambchop album; the auto-tuned mutter that has become Wagner's vocal trademark from 2016's FLOTUS onward is front and center here, and though the additional keyboards, soulful backing vocalists, and occasional interjections of dance-friendly beats are a change of pace, Broder has respected Wagner's melodic sensibility both in terms of his piano work and the overall tone of the album. All the outside help was in the service of an especially personal work from Wagner. The subtext of these songs is Wagner coming to terms with his spirituality, despite not being a religious person, and his belief that he's not alone in these feelings as he ponders the struggles that are a part of nearly everyone's life. In some of his songs (most notably "His Song Is Sung"), these feelings share the stage with coming face-to-face with his father's mortality, and the balance between sorrow, curiosity, and acceptance in Wagner's vocals tell an especially eloquent story all by themselves. It has been quite some time since Lambchop lived up to their old slogan "Nashville's most f-ed-up country band," but on The Bible, Kurt Wagner bravely steps into new territory both musically and lyrically, and it's a beautiful and frequently moving experience. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
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