2008 Woodie Awards
for the record
Melissa Marshall
Issue date: 10/10/07 Section: Arts
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As we slip out of seer-sucker and skirts and into corduroy and cable-knits, we also shrug off the sunshine-pop of summer and hit play on something more substantial. Maybe it's the shorter days, the crisper air or the falling leaves, but the autumn season lends itself to the poets and their accompanying introspection. And while I heart Heaney, adore Auden and revere Rilke, there can be just as much comfort between the chords of a boy's guitar as the landscaped lines of Cummings.
Iron & Wine's Sept. 25 release The Shepherd's Dog is more conducive to the brisker weather than hot apple cider - and equally as satisfying. While the solo acoustic strum and Sam Beam's whispery vocals on releases such The Creek Drank the Cradle and In the Reins may be more comparable to the winter wind whipping through barren branches, The Shepherd's Dog is lush and even colorful on some arrangements - the first single "Boy with a Coin," has a driving heartbeat while the Afro-pop "House by the Sea" is surprisingly danceable. Despite the shiny, more polished sound of the skin, Iron & Wine still stay true to their melancholy core. Beam's voice is still laced with its hauntingly nostalgic hue, while the structure of their songs is still supported by the minimalist, skeletal chords of the acoustic guitar. The masses were first exposed to the brilliant songwriting of the Florida native through the group's cover of The Postal Service's "Such Great Heights" featured on Zach Braff's mix-tape made public Garden State Soundtrack. On their third full-length release, Iron & Wine uses their ever-rising position as Indie idols to craft an album of note-perfect production without sacrificing the raw emotionality we have come to expect from Beam. "Carousel" veritably rips your ventricles apart while the waltz-like wandering melody of "Flightless Bird, American Mouth," will weave an irrevocable reverie. And even though some of the intimacy created by Beam's "one-guy in a bedroom" sound may be missing along with the scratchy lo-fi production value, The Shepherd's Dog languidly breezes into the living room, offering a record that breathes introspection and intricacy.
Iron & Wine's Sept. 25 release The Shepherd's Dog is more conducive to the brisker weather than hot apple cider - and equally as satisfying. While the solo acoustic strum and Sam Beam's whispery vocals on releases such The Creek Drank the Cradle and In the Reins may be more comparable to the winter wind whipping through barren branches, The Shepherd's Dog is lush and even colorful on some arrangements - the first single "Boy with a Coin," has a driving heartbeat while the Afro-pop "House by the Sea" is surprisingly danceable. Despite the shiny, more polished sound of the skin, Iron & Wine still stay true to their melancholy core. Beam's voice is still laced with its hauntingly nostalgic hue, while the structure of their songs is still supported by the minimalist, skeletal chords of the acoustic guitar. The masses were first exposed to the brilliant songwriting of the Florida native through the group's cover of The Postal Service's "Such Great Heights" featured on Zach Braff's mix-tape made public Garden State Soundtrack. On their third full-length release, Iron & Wine uses their ever-rising position as Indie idols to craft an album of note-perfect production without sacrificing the raw emotionality we have come to expect from Beam. "Carousel" veritably rips your ventricles apart while the waltz-like wandering melody of "Flightless Bird, American Mouth," will weave an irrevocable reverie. And even though some of the intimacy created by Beam's "one-guy in a bedroom" sound may be missing along with the scratchy lo-fi production value, The Shepherd's Dog languidly breezes into the living room, offering a record that breathes introspection and intricacy.
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