Iron and Wine – The Shepherd’s Dog – Vinyl Record

Description

Iron and Wines last release (not including the collaborativeIn the ReinsEP which featured songs by Iron and Wines Sam Beam and performances by both Iron and Wine andCalexicotogether) was 2005sWoman King, a 6-song EP which distinguished itself from its predecessors with a deepening integration of spiraling, dense opuses with intimate confessionals. OnThe Shepherds Dogthis integration is complete. Sam Beam has confessed to finding spiritual inspiration inTom Waitspice de rsistance,Swordfishtrombones, an album with which Waits upended his previous strategies and forged a new musical language for himself. Recorded by Sam with the assistance of longtime producer Brian Deck and engineer Colin Studebaker,The Shepherds Dogsucceeds in accomplishing a similar cathartic recasting of the artists intentions. The arrangements here are kaleidoscopic and rich. White Tooth Man rocks with a desperate, menacing intensity while “Boy with a Coin,the albums first single, is darkly playful with a handclap hook tumbling under its cascading melody. The whole album breathes. Its seductive rhythms percolate and undulate, from the Psych-Bhangra-redux of Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car to the albums last dancea waltz”Flightless Bird, American Mouth. Compositionally, it isIron and Winesmost ambitious and accomplished recording to date. Its also the most satisfying.

The LP version of this album comes with a download code for the mp3s of these songs. Yay!