Iron and Wine
Around the Well
Rating: 4.0
Label: Sub Pop
Iron and Wine’s Sam Beam is one of the artists that spearheaded the current wave of hirsute folkies that now dominate the iPods and Sendspace accounts of hip kids, clashing with the encroaching influences that have come along with the surge of ’80s New Wave revivalism. There is something about the tone of the country in the past eight years that set the stage for the quiet introspection of music like Iron and Wine and similar acts like Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes. Perhaps in sharp reaction to the abject misery of the world, Beam’s music acts as a transport to lazy, country Sundays where vines grow around timeless tree trunks and youthful nostalgia is the only sadness that penetrates this misty fantasia.
Artists must evolve, however, much to the chagrin of some fans. While it seemed many of Beam’s longtime followers split over the rich arrangements and incorporation of world beats on 2007′s The Shepherd’s Dog, Beam has been quietly evolving every since his 2002 debut of muddy lo-fi recordings, The Creek Drank the Cradle. For someone who only has three LPs and a handful of EPs to his name, the arrival of double disc B-side collection Around the Well may seem premature, but Beam has produced a collection of songs that can serve as an alternative history, a way to chart his swamp water roots through the cleaner folk of Our Endless Numbered Days to his use of a band on Woman King and Shepherd’s.
Broken into two discs that consist of recordings made alone and those in a studio, Around the Well presents a portable snapshot of this gentle progression. It kicks off with “Dearest Forsaken;” immediately, the broken pastoral tropes of burgeoning rivers, tree stumps and solitude populate this tune. It is a comforting sound, the tentative beginnings of an artist unaware of his growing influence just a dusting of years later.
As a cohesive album and due to its massive length, Around the Well may put off some listeners, especially those used to shuffling their songs. There are 23 songs to wade through, some such as the closing “The Trapeze Swinger” pushing 10 minutes in length. But those purchasing Around the Well will not be new Beam converts: it will be the legions of fans eager to hear this collection of rare songs, such as the storied cover of the Flaming Lips’ “Waitin’ For A Superman” or a trio of songs recorded in the same sessions as the stunning “Trapeze Swinger” that possess the weary gravitas of missing love. Perhaps the most anticipated track is the cover of the Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights.” Rounding out the first disc, this take on the popular song is regal, poignant and beautiful. Never mind that it was used in an M&Ms commercial.
There is something about Iron and Wine that is reminiscent of a quiet summer night, the dusky sounds of crickets and frogs creeping into the cooling air. Around the Well arrives at the perfect time. It’s the perfect album to put on as you try to fall asleep, the warm night air drifting in from an open window.
by David Harris
