On first glance, Sam Beam (the man behind Iron & Wine) doesn't look all that much like a rock star. Pasty-skinned and profoundly bearded, Beam looks more like a mysterious mountain man than a prolific, transcendent songwriter. Clearly, looks can be deceiving, as Beam has taken his project from humble roots to incredible heights over the past decade or so. Through three studio albums, a handful of EPs and a number of singles and compilations, Iron & Wine has pushed its base sound (a sleepy-eyed, psychedelic take on singer-songwriter tropes) into the ether, welcoming in all sorts of new sounds and more melody.
Beam's new album Kiss Each Other Clean (which hits the streets today) is his most ambitious yet, dragging in pieces of soul music, experimental rock and classic '70s AM singalongs with nary a folk strum in sight. It seems to be ushering in a new era for Iron & Wine, but will Beam alienate his core audience? Or is he still worth listening to?
Based on the first round of reviews, it appears as though people are willing to follow Beam on his journey. "Beam's headed someplace, and it's worth following," wrote Jody Rosen in his three-and-a-half star review in Rolling Stone. "Beam's lovely voice anchors melodies of crystalline clarity and unshakable catchiness. But the music won't stay still, moving from stormy psychedelic rock to white-guy funk to what sounds like a Beach Boys version of a country-western ballad."
In his review for Entertainment Weekly, Simon Vozick-Levinson didn't think that everything worked on Kiss Each Other Clean, but agreed that there was way more good than bad on the eclectic album. "Over the course of 44 minutes, [Beam] tries out unexpected effects like whining guitar, mildly skronky horns, burbling electronics, and occasional profanities," he wrote. "Not all of the new sounds enhance Beam's lovely melodies, but they rarely obscure those underlying charms, either."
The Los Angeles Times was far more enthusiastic, already talking about Kiss Each Other Clean as one of the best releases of the young year. "Beam's evocative folk has evolved into incorporating dips into soul, woozy R&B and loose-limbed '70s rock," critic Chris Barton wrote. "The driving funk of 'Yr City Is a Sucker' features high-pitched choruses and jazzy brass reminiscent of early Chicago that builds to Beam ranting like an end times prophet who can see the walls crumbling. It's not always the stuff of angels, but it's something far richer."
Spin also got on board with the idea that the album will almost certainly end up on best-of lists in 2011. "Kiss delivers plenty of unexpected layers, employed judiciously in service of Beam's usual ruminative ideas about good and evil, love and death," wrote critic Josh Modell. "The wheat-colored troubadour hasn't disappeared completely, but even the acoustic-rooted tracks are flecked with new hues."
The British press also fell head over heels for Iron & Wine's new album. NME declared it "a surprising and majestic triumph," while The Guardian gave it four stars and said, "Beam comes across as a latter-day prophet, casting his gentle eye over capitalist, warmongering western society with sorrow and kindness. His eccentric experimentation does much to temper the earnestness of his endeavor — and makes you appreciate all the more the direct loveliness of piano ballad 'Godless Brother in Love' and the honeyed nostalgia of 'Tree By the River.'"
What do you think of the new album by Iron & Wine? Let us know in the comments!
Tags iron-&-wine, reviews
