Iron and Wine
Our Endless Numbered Days

(Sub Pop)

subpop.com

Subtle and sophisticated, the sophomore Iron and Wine release, Our Endless Numbered Days, might best be savored on a Sunday afternoon, sipping a fine Cabernet, looking out onto a rustic farm featuring a horse and its iron plow. A pastoral scene to be sure: this release caters to those among you who can appreciate the simple beauty of space, space created by a guitar, thoughtful lyrics and the epiphany that less is usually more.

I've heard the Nick Drake comparisons, and certainly that isn't unjustified for Iron and Wine a/k/a Sam Beam. My comparison is more to Leonard Cohen. The problem with such lofty comparisons is that, most of the time, the artists have very little to do with one another from the perspective of influence, personality or otherwise. I don't know anything about Beam; I have no bio. I have nothing to go on except what I hear. It needs no spin. What I hear is more than enough.

Commenting on individual songs is difficult, as I hear this recording as a piece. It is like a snapshot of Beam's observations. The observations are muted enough to camouflage their source of inspiration. Whether the songs are autobiographical or not becomes less of a point as he draws you in to the composition and vibe of the recording. As the album progresses, it takes you to a place that is familiar but new, a rare place indeed.

American folk is at the root of our rich history of popular music. I imagine that Stephen Foster sang "Suwanee River" much as Sam Beam does on this recording. That type of lofty fantasy is easily inspired by what you hear on this disc.

They say that what is old is what is new again. In this era of technology, computers and modern conveniences, Beam proves, once again, that there is a unique power in the human voice and a soft guitar to deliver a universal message to the soul. Beam confidently delivers that universal message on Our Endless Numbered Days.

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