Woman King

Today's Music of the Day is Iron & Wine's Woman King EP. This is something I bought on vinyl and have been listening to, a little bit, over the past few weeks. It's just a six-song EP, and it goes by very quickly, but I would still be hard-pressed not to recommend it to anyone who can tolerate the sound of an acoustic guitar.

The formula for this album is simple, mostly acoustic guitar and some well-placed piano, with Sam Beam shouldering almost all of the vocal duties (I think there are some backup singers harmonizing with him in places). The overall sound is a little more boisterous in tempo (though not necessarily mood) than earlier Iron & Wine albums, and the guitars and piano are reasonably busy. This isn't a bad thing by any means, but it is a nudge towards something other than the Iron & Wine that gave us 'Sea and the Rhythm'. (It definitely serves as a first step, at least, towards the more complicated songs of The Shepherd's Dog.)

Personally, I really enjoy this album. The songs are still brooding and foreboding, and Beam's voice still sounds the way that a cold wind feels. The lyrics are pretty good, though they serve the music more than the other way around. I would be hard pressed to favor a song over the closer, the bouncy "Evening on the Ground (Lilith's Song)", but the title track is very good, and there really isn't a weak link to be found. The only real fault is that the album is an EP; maybe a full-length album wouldn't be able to carry the power in each song that Woman King does.

In Short: If you don't like Iron & Wine, that's fine. I guess. But if you do, and you don't have this album, you should do something about it.

In Other News:
Meh, I'll let you know.

(Also, some of the eMusic I got this month - Beirut, and The Pains of Being Earnest at Heart or something like that, are pretty good. Not sure about those Beirut tracks with the electronics, yet.)