The Winsome God Of War

Iron & Wine “Big Burned Hand”

A lot of people made up their mind about Iron & Wine a long time ago, and set songwriter Sam Beam down in a box marked “magnificent beard/sad folk.” Beam still has very impressive facial hair, but his music has developed quite a bit since the mid-00s, gradually mutating over his past couple releases into the classy, subtly artful soft pop of Kiss Each Other Clean. Beam’s in full-on 70s mode throughout the record, filling out his arrangements with rich harmonies and glossy textures that accent rather than pile on his gorgeous melodies. It’s one of the most tastefully produced albums of the year; almost overwhelmingly pleasant in its use of space and texture, and its delicate balance of implied warmth and dryness of tone. That dryness presents most every instrument with precise clarity, but he still tosses in a bit of distortion to great effect — in the case of “Big Burned Hand,” his typically immaculate and softly-rounded voice is just a bit in the red, lending it a slight edge of imperfection.

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