Following the success of their album What the Crow Brings (2007), founding members Ben Knox Miller and Jeffrey Prystowsky welcomed Jocie Adams to the band.

At the Boston Music Awards, the Low Anthem and Oh My God, Charlie Darwin won Best New Act and Album of the Year, respectively.

The Low Anthem founding members Ben Knox Miller and Jeffrey Prystowsky felt ambitious after the success of their second studio album, What the Crow Brings (2007), which sold over 10,000 copies.

[3] In November 2007,[4] they welcomed to the group Jocie Adams, a classical composer and former NASA technician who they knew from Brown University;[3][5] she had been a fan since they started performing live.

[8] The name of the album, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, occurred to the group while observing giraffes at the Roger Williams Park Zoo in their home town of Providence, Rhode Island.

[12] Miller stated he is not antireligious and the group did not take sides between religion and Darwinism; he felt the album was about both hope and hopelessness,[3] and described it as "a gospel record for scientists and social philosophers".

[18][19] Eleven people lived together in isolation,[13]: 2:38  which Miller felt led to friction and tension that improved the music, describing recording sessions as a "little failed utopia".

[35] The album invokes themes of redemption, apocalypse,[36] life and death, love, and religion;[34] it has been compared to works resulting from the Dust Bowl, with several antediluvian references,[8][20] and considered an unintentional mirror of the economic woes of the United States[12] and a loss of free debate during and after the presidency of George W.

[35] Miller sings in falsetto in "Charlie Darwin"[19][41][42] and modal voice in "To Ohio" and "Ticket Taker", before dropping to a lower range by "The Horizon is a Beltway".

[22][35] Ed Miller of Drowned in Sound identified the track listing as a "tapestry of American iconography": the first settlers in "Charlie Darwin", Midwest in "To Ohio", the "hobo spirit" of "Home I'll Never Be", and "a wild romantic heart" overall.

[27] Several tracks were compared to the work of other artists: "Charlie Darwin" to Fleet Foxes,[34][44][45] "Ticket Taker" to Leonard Cohen,[45][46] and "The Horizon is a Beltway" to Waits, Bob Dylan, and the Pogues.

[47][45][48] "Charlie Darwin" is musically minimalistic, featuring an acoustic guitar alongside Miller's falsetto and backing vocals by Prystowsky and Adams.

[8] Paste's Josh Jackson viewed it an attack on society's application of Darwinism,[41] while Uncut's Allan Jones said it "imagines a drowning world, returned to water, a few sodden souls cast adrift on a sea of sorrow".

[39] "To Ohio" is about yearning for lost love and new scenery;[49] Aspen Daily News's Jonathan Bastian described the melody as "regretful but reposed".

[43] The Aquarian's Fortunato likened the atmosphere of "To Ohio" and "(Don't) Tremble" to the works of Nick Drake, emphasized by the variety of instruments against Miller's "solitary grief-stricken hymnals";[12] Uncut's Jones compared the former to Paul Simon, and considered the latter a pledge of loyalty and hymn of reassurance.

[44] WXPN's Bruce Warren felt "To Ohio" showcased the band's "soft and tender side",[5] and The Quietus's Tom Milway likened its imagery to a Steinbeck novel.

[26] "Ticket Taker" was described by The Aquarian's Fortunato as "poignant muzzle-voiced maunder" bedeviled by desperation,[12] and by Gigwise's Huw Jones as a love story recounting biblical floods.

[32] DIY's Thompson felt it alluded to the responsibility of guiding others through difficult lives;[39] Aspen Daily News's Bastian considered it a "release" after the intensity of previous tracks, reinforced by the lack of lyrics on "Music Box".

[46] The Aquarian's Fortunato described "Cage the Songbird" as a threnody reminiscent of the Cowboy Junkies,[12] while the BBC's Jon Lusk identified a similarity to the lullaby "Hush, Little Baby" with its list of conditionals.

[11] The album's popularity was attributed to word-of-mouth support;[53] Miller compared its trajectory to the westward expansion of the United States in the late 19th century,[7] and said the band was able to "make a living" by March 2009.

[65] Tom Jones covered "Charlie Darwin" for his 2012 album Spirit in the Room;[66] he was charmed by the historical references to the Mayflower and added vocals from an English church choir.

[84] Following a month-long European stint in September, the band added 21 locations to their American tour in October and November—including their West Coast debut[81]—and ended the year with two London shows in November.

[99] The album was described by Paste's Jackson as "exquisite",[41] noting "it stopped us in our tracks the first time we heard it",[104] and by NME's Leonie Cooper as a "welcome addition to the intricate patchwork quilt of the new wave of Americana";[46] Ottawa Citizen's Stuart Derdeyn found the group unique within a debased genre.

[48] The instrumentation, production value, and variety of genres received praise;[27][39][42] Gigwise's Jones described the album as "an agnostic mix of startling beauty and haunting comment".

[32] The Australian's Iain Shedden commended the band's ability to handle different genres and themes,[30] which The Austin Chronicle's Doug Freeman felt was emphasized by the track sequencing.

[33][34][48][106] The Boston Globe's Jonathan Perry lauded the exploration of themes,[107] and Drowned in Sound's Miller wrote the album had the potential to fail but its consistent quality, philosophical lyrics, and experimental music made it compelling.

[108] Rolling Stone's Christian Hoard criticized some lyrics of "Charlie Darwin" but praised "Cage the Songbird" and "The Horizon is a Beltway" as the album's best.

[36] The Irish Times's Lauren Murphy felt both styles were cleverly connected by poetic lyrics but noted a preference for the quieter moments.

[122] Following its reissue, it appeared on multiple publications' and personalities' year-end lists of 2009, including Magnet (1st),[123] HUMO (2nd),[124] Ottawa Citizen (3rd),[125] Brattleboro Reformer (4th),[126] Paste (4th),[127] Steve McCoy (5th),[128] Billings Gazette (9th),[129] Mojo (12th),[130] The Huffington Post (tied 17th),[131] Uncut (21st),[132] Q (22nd),[133] MusicOMH (30th),[134] The Guardian (41st),[135] WOXY.com (97th),[136] Boston Herald,[137] and The Independent.