Album review - Iron and Wine 'Kiss Each Other Clean'

Iron and Wine
'Kiss Each Other Clean'
4AD

SAM Beam, better known under his performing moniker Iron and Wine, has completed something of a quiet, understated journey with this, his fourth studio album, shedding the earlier, admittedly simplistic perception of him as something of a whiskered and bearded singer-songwriter, whispering into his microphone, his folk-songs subtle and understated, and similarily lacking in ambition.
A mere glimpse at the retro, psychedilic-drenched album cover suggests from the off that Beam is going to advance the journey began on his previous record, the excellent The Shepherd’s Dog, which made many Best Of lists on its release in 2007.
He likened that album to an attempt to replicate something in the vein of Tom Waits’ Swordfishtrombones, moving from the acoustic-driven whisper of The Creek Drank the Cradle and Our Endless Numbered Days to a fuller, more complete sound, and has proclaimed this
album to be “more of a focused pop record”, his first since he signed to Warners/4AD,
leaving the Sub Pop label, home of Fleet Foxes and Postal Service and more.

It is the many layers and quirky rhythms on this album that surprise the most, notably the waves of sound on superb opener Walking Far From Home, the African influenced Monkeys
Uptown - which references the throbbing electric guitar sounds prevalent on a Tinariwen record - the steady, brooding closer Your Fake Name Is Good Enough For Me, and the more subtle, minimalist and off-centre groove of Rabbit Will Run.
The eye-opening jazz-prog-beat of Big Burned Hand is the biggest departure for Beam, who has effortlessly turned his hand at producing a much richer sound here.
The do-wap oohs and aahs of Half Moon are more of a throwback to his earlier output, as is the
softer, Bon Iver-esque Godless Brother In Love.

However, it is the fizzing melodies of Glad Man Singing that catch the ear repeatedly, the piano driven track bustling with electro-flourishes and reminiscent of AstralWeeks. Superb.

If this is the second twist on Beam’s musical journey, we can’t wait to see where the road goes next.

RATING 4/5

Album review - The National 'High Violet'

The National
‘High Violet’
4AD

THE OPENING tracks on The National’s third and fourth studio albums - Alligator and Boxer respectively - were instantly engaging, incandescent tracks that set the brooding tone that followed.
‘Terrible Love’, the brooding epic on the Brooklyn-based band’s fifth studio record, High Violet, is no ‘Secret Meeting’ or ‘Fake Empire’. Doused in militaristic drumming and throbbing guitars - as is The National’s trademark - High Violet takes some time to reach the epic heights of the openings to the album’s critically acclaimed predecessors, but by the time it has come, the Cincinnati formed band have worked themselves, and the listener, into something of a subtle tizzy.
The lead single, ‘Bloodbuzz Ohio’, is the emotional centrepiece of this album, an astonishing continuation of a richly textured period for the band. The effervescent track sees vocalist Matt Beringer allow his rich baritone to be at the beating heart of the song, allowing himself - as in other places on this album - to stretch his vocal chords toward breaking point.
As with most of Beringer’s vivid lyrics, they are opaque and difficult to permeate - ‘I was carried, to Ohio on a swarm of bees’ - but this is one song you won’t be able to get out of your head after even the merest of listens.
The spooky, spine tingling ‘Afraid of Everyone’ is another stand-out track, while ‘England’ - possibly a paean to the band’s spiritual home - is the most musical song that The National have offered in recent years.
The kooky album closer, Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks is, bizarrely, one of the most uplifting, soaring tracks you will hear this year.
The National, channelling The Cure and Joy Division through a modern, indie-rock standpoint - a la contemporaries Arcade Fire and TV On The Radio - feel like the anti-Springsteen on this album, such is the restraint shown on tracks such as ‘Sorrow’ and ‘Anyone’s Ghost’.
There is a tenderness and subtlety that mirrors the band’s ascent to greatness, slow and deliberate, but gathering increasing speed.
There is no doubt that Beringer’s baritone will continue to prove divisive, but for those willing to delve in, this is an astonishingly powerful record that will reveal its richness with every listen. RATING: 4/5