Album Review: Anthropocene by Peter Oren

For Oren, there's only one place us and the world around us is headed, and it doesn't make for pleasant hearing. What's more, he places the blame firmly at the feet of mankind. Intensely critical of our actions, he presents his thoughts without any threat of misconception; on the eponymous track, his refrain of "How will we escape this?"' is filled with dread and self-loathing, whereas on the excellent "Throw Down", his bark of "How long can you wait for change?" attacks both our inaction and lack of time to make amends.

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Peter Oren aces first impressions. On each of the two albums he has released during the past two years, the young singer-songwriter with a voice like polished oak and an obsession with life on the road has started off with some stunning traveler's snapshot, a poignant clipping cut from his weathered scrapbook. In 2016, for the promising debut Living by the Light, Oren detailed a one-night stand spent beneath the stars of the mystic Olympic Peninsula, where the mountains melt into the sea.

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With a title referring to an unofficial geologic epoch defined by human impact, Anthropocene is the Western Vinyl debut of Indiana native Peter Oren. Like his 2016 self-released Living in Light, it features an electric guitar-bolstered acoustic palette that invites elements of country, blues, folk, and rock into Oren's gritty yet graceful singer/songwriter fare. Here, though, a few additional instruments like pedal steel and Wurlitzer are among those covered by a backing band put together by Wilco's Ken Coomer, who also served as drummer and producer on the album.

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