Iron & Wine
Beast Epic

THE REVIEW

When you listen to the music of Iron & Wine, you are suddenly transported into the world of Walden, the protagonist of Thoreau's novel. A simple life, without technology, without fashions and trends, far from society.
Samuel Ervin Beam, the South Carolina singer-songwriter behind the Iron & Wine project, has always made his music a timeless journey, far from the contemporary world. A classic, stripped-down folk with bittersweet melodies intertwined with the country sounds of the banjo and violin. The anachronism of his new album Beast Epic contrasts sharply with the contemporary theme that binds all the tracks, the vivid thought of passing time, the beauty and pain of aging, the fast-moving train of life that we must always chase.

A reflection on life made of poetic words, of contemplation of the world around us. Like Walden, sitting outside his cabin in the middle of the forest, Beam strums the acoustic guitar and enchants with a muffled and dreamy voice in the opening track “Claim Your Ghost”. The gentle country of “Thomas County Law” has the ancient, timeless flavor of the vast USA landscapes, where sleek-coated horses stand calmly in the pen, where the faint sound of combines can be heard in the distance, where on a farm's porch, a sleepy dog enjoys the shade beside an elderly woman peeling corn by the entrance.

Fifteen years after his debut, Iron & Wine still surprises. He offers an album of crystalline beauty, redolent of yellowed photos on a dusty sideboard, worn-out leather armchairs, and curtains fluttering in the fresh late-summer breeze. “Summer Clouds” is one of the best tracks of the album, with a slow rhythm like the late August afternoons spent under a tree, lying watching the clear sky, and grasshoppers leaping from blade to blade, unaware of the passing time. Unaware of the life that we all quickly leave behind.

The single “Call It Dreaming” is airy, elegant, and light. A slight tonal increase makes this piece brilliant, captivating, magical like the old late-sixties tracks of Nick Drake and Neil Young. A vibrant atmosphere, like the wind caressing the wheat fields, the coat of cows grazing, and the branches of apple trees laden with ripe fruits. Ripe fruits just as the times are ripe for the singer-songwriter, who, despite having just turned forty, delves into thoughts of what he will leave behind, how aging has made him a man with satisfactions and regrets, joys and dark moments. A man who shows himself bare, fragile yet determined and happy with the life he has lived in the world through his music.

"For all the love you’ve left behind / You can have mine."

The plucked violin, the bold double bass, the laid-back voice make “Last Night” the most distinctive track of the album. A tempo halfway between jazz and blues. A light, soft rhythm like walking barefoot on dew-damp grass, like a bee flitting among fragrant lavender flowers, like a shooting star on a clear September night.
Just as in Thoreau's novel the protagonist Walden reflects on the relationship between man and nature, the bearded Beam in this new album uses natural phenomena like the seasons, the sky, the stars to reflect on the past, on time that was, on how today the trend is to forget the time spent with loved ones. The closing track “Your Light Miles” is the moment when Beam asks himself “What will become of us?”, what will become of us? A moving piece, stripped of excess, sparse and saturated with emotions. The perfect closure of a journey that, starting from the past, questions the present and looks hopeful and regret-free towards the future.

Iron & Wine has returned to his roots with this new Epic Beast. He transcends every musical fashion and era with a clear, mature, concise sound filled with memories and emotions. With the guitar in hand, as pictured on the cover, Sam Beam sings blindfolded, looking neither backward nor forward, but bringing out all his talent and proving once more capable of crafting an exceptional, genuine, poetic, and evocative album.