Hey, have you guys heard the new Iron & Wine album,
The Shepherd's Dog? It's been out for awhile now, but Robert just let me borrow his copy. I don't know what it is about Sam Beam, but his music has a way of getting me all nostalgic for every love I've ever felt. Then I imagine myself older, looking out of some unfamiliar window, a scene dressed in orange and green and blue, warm air, some trees, alone and feeling alright.
At first, the album seemed odd, patchy. I wasn't sure where Sam Beam was trying to go, wasn't sure what he was trying to say, wondered if he was lacking some focus. There were some new sounds here—electronic, southwestern, and jazz-tinged—some extended jaunts that had me wondering whether Beam's new work had been influenced by his collaborations with Calexico. But the more familiar tunes—the gentle harmonies, the muted chords, the soft, human sounds—asked me to listen again and again. And, though I'm only listening through my cheap computer speakers, I get the sense that this album
sounds lovely. Iron & Wine albums usually do. It was that collaboration with Calexico, after all, that got me started
on this hi-fi thing, and the 2004 album,
Our Endless Numbered Days, was a "
Recording of the Month."
Now, after four or five listens, I'm starting to wonder if this rambling, tumbling album is something very special.
Blonde on Blonde special.
Exile On Main Street special. I hope you'll listen. Let me know what you think. And, yes, it is available on vinyl.
