New Iron And Wine Release: Around The Well

Coming this Tuesday to a slab of vinyl (or CD or download) near you will be the newest release from Sam Beam, a.k.a. Iron And Wine.

Anyone who professes knowing everything about every artist on the current hit parade is likely a liar or an obsessive (or an obsessive liar). I confess, Iron And Wine is somewhat new to me despite having read considerable critical praise for the handful of long players he’s done over the past few years.

Sam Beam is Carolina born, Florida educated and Austin residing. As is typical of a lot of artists these days, the bio on his site is somewhat vague but his Wiki is more forthcoming. So say the masses, Beam was educated in film and has, prior to the success of I And W, made his living as a film professor at the University of Miami.

His Wiki also says he possesses a sound much like Simon And Garfunkel, Elliott Smith and Nick Drake. True enough, though there are certainly many more who can be rung up as influences. My wife, while listening with me to an advance of his new record, claimed Pink Floyd, an easy association to make based on this record.

For me, the record sounds like an old farm house, the kind that has a parlor with a faded red love seat and lamps that haven’t been dusted in 30 years. The sun shines through lace curtains; sitting at the correct angle rewards you with a spectacular show of dust floating through the air, a universe interacting all on its own.

It’s the post agricultural age, mechanical things abound. You’re sitting in the kitchen, listening to ticking clocks, boiling kettles, hand cranked washing machines, tractors in the distance through an open window.

Iron And Wine – Dearest Forsaken
Iron And Wine – Morning
Iron And Wine – Loud As Hope
Iron And Wine – Peng 33