Iron And Wine "Woman King" (Sub Pop)
By Dave Schutz
Friday. Jun 03, 2:11 AM
Boo him like you did Dylan, backwards-facing scoundrels!

Those who were skeptical about Sam Beam’s jump to soundtrack-worthy production values on Iron And Wine’s Our Endless Numbered Days (which easily rendered all such skepticism unfounded) might consider a more open outlook to the news that Beam has, in fact, gone electric…

Gasp!

…And even polyrhythmic on Woman King, a six-song EP celebrating the fairer sex with an approach that’s no less intimate or sensitive than his previous work. The title track sets the stage: it’s undoubtedly Iron And Wine, and Beam’s style is so refined that it’s almost unnoticeable at first that, hey, there’s about a hundred percussive elements going on here (then fuzzed-out bass and some organ). “Freedom Hangs Like Heaven” works similarly, with keys thickening the melodies and subtle percussion accentuating / sometimes replacing, Beam’s deft picking. “Jezebel” and “In My Lady’s House” come from the softer side of Beam’s canon, sweet ballads that run thick with pianos. “Evening on the Ground (Lilith’s Song)” caps the record by drawing all the elements together into a tense boil around a diatribe from Eve’s point-of-view.

By no means has Beam gone off the deep end here. The new elements on Woman King enhance the songs without covering up their simple beauty. It’s definitely a big next step for an already great songwriter.
www.ironandwine.com
www.subpop.com

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Dave Schutz

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