(Sub Pop)
No one can discuss Iron and Wine without using the word beautiful or its synonyms. There is an effortless perfection about Iron and Wine. Many contemporary singer/songwriters have tried to capture the quiet, melancholic beauty of Nick Drake's whisper, but no one comes closer than Iron and Wine on .
Sam Beam, singer/songwriter and instrumentalist has moved away from solo performing and recording at home on a four-track recorder to a studio with Califone's Brian Deck producing. There is an actual band of sorts that includes his sister singing harmonies.
This new hi-fi production allows the moods on to vary more than on the debut album, The instrumental overdubs are much clearer, as are the vocal harmonies, which almost redefine the concept of multiple voices singing together, and are the greatest highlights of this record.
When Sam Beam and his sister Sarah harmonize together on \Naked As We Came"" and ""Sunset Soon Forgetting"" the brother and sister duo conjure up a spirit that perfectly conveys the feeling of a perfect summer day. Their vocals reach the level that Bob Dylan and Emmylou Harris achieved on Dylan's . It is magical when two voices come together and add up to so much more than they ever could separately, and every time they sing together they produce phenomenal results. Elsewhere, Sam Beam harmonizes with himself to almost as striking of results. Sam Beam's voice can sound just like a reed organ, by sustaining one deep note for many measures without wavering at all, which adds a ghostly effect on ""Cinder and Smoke.""
Besides the beautiful vocal interplay between Sam Beam and his sister, the instrumental combinations are well thought out and original. Banjos and drums are cued just when they should be, and they constantly add new layers that beg for repeated plays, and give each song its own identity. There is no flashy soloing, but instead the instruments compliment each other, while possessing their own melody worthy of a solo. When the songs need a sparser approach Deck realizes this and never comes close to overproduction. ""Radio War"" is the most overt folk song on the record, with only a brushed banjo and disturbing story sung sweetly.
It almost seems like it is not smart for someone to put this many beautiful songs on the same record, because some day the supply could run out. Surprisingly, it doesn't seem like Sam Beam is capable of writing a song that is anything less than really good, and in two full-length albums and one EP of outtakes, he hasn't. The even more amazing part is so many of these songs are nothing less than great, each having its own personality and mood.
-Eric Van Vleet
