Review

Clearly having learned a lot from his time recording and touring with Calexico, Iron & Wine (aka Florida’s Sam Beam) leaves behind the sparse, acoustic sound and simple songwriting that served him so well on his first two albums. Here, nearly every song is underpinned with unconventional percussion (cowbells, scrapers, shakers, tabla drums, everything) and decorated with pianos, banjos, keyboards and seemingly whatever else he could lay his hands on. It’s not always the ideal vehicle for Beam’s folksy Americana. At one point the sliding bass sounds worryingly close to Bossa Nova, and the heavily processed vocals on ‘Carousel’ grate. Overall, though, a little more ambition serves well, and new single ‘Boy With A Coin’ perfectly matches the percussion and slide guitar with Beam’s trademark acoustic guitar work and gentle voice.

Words_Niall Harden

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DOWNLOAD: ‘Pagan Angel And A Borrowed Car’, ‘Resurrection Farm’
FOR FANS OF: Sufjan Stevens, Wilco

Posted on: July 16, 2007