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Iron & Wine’s “The Shepherd’s Dog”

Is it weird to like a record even though it reminds you, however faintly, of something you never liked very much? I only ask because I've been playing this new Iron & Wine record quite a lot this past couple of weeks.

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Is it weird to like a record even though it reminds you, however faintly, of something you never liked very much? I only ask because I’ve been playing this new Iron & Wine record quite a lot this past couple of weeks.

The past Iron & Wine albums have had a distinct touch of Simon & Garfunkel about them, I think, in their hushed minimalism, the way Sam Beam sang in a calm whisper that masked all manner of psychic anxieties. “The Shepherd’s Dog”, though, is a much fuller and more dynamic record. Many of the 12 tracks have driving, rattling grooves and, although there’s a still a feeling of air and space, a clarity and precision to each sound in the mix, there’s a whole lot more going on.

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But what’s strange, especially in the gentle and persistent undulations of a track like “Lovesong Of The Buzzard”, is how it kind of reminds me of Paul Simon’s “Graceland”. It’s not an African influence, exactly; more, perhaps, a sense of a traditionally discreet folksinger hitching his songs to elaborately unravelling rhythms.

Fortunately, it works brilliantly, too. Perhaps it’s residual indie absolutism, but I’m often a bit suspicious of artists, who’ve virtually perfected something small, trying to construct a bigger sound that doesn’t really suit them. Beam, though, has been extremely clever here. On “White Tooth Man”, he and his musicians kick up a momentum that’s irresistible and actually psychedelic. But there’s still a lightness of touch at all times which ensures, critically, that the musical arrangements don’t overwhelm the delicacy of Beam’s voice.

“Carousel” is more familiar, muted, but even here there’s a depth and detailing which reveals itself on fifth, sixth, seventh listens. Listening to “The Shepherd’s Dog” as I write, I’m struck by how much there is to take in here, a kind of measured lushness, a subtle hyperactivity, that aligns Iron & Wine firmly with this sector’s heavy hitters Calexico and Lambchop; Joey Burns and Paul Niehaus actually contribute to the album, few of you will be surprised to hear.

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“Wolves (Song Of The Shepherd’s Dog)” has just come on. There are weird dub drop-outs, bubbling FX and echoing piano chords reverberating around some Cooder-ish slide, then a fidgety, chattering rhythm that, again, feels a world away from the gothic southern folk with which Beam made his name.

I’m thinking of “Graceland” again, and I’m wondering if anyone else has a record they love which reminds them of a record they loathe? Drop me a line below. . .

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