CD of the Month: Iron & Wine

Around the Well by Iron & Wine

From Indie-Folk legend Sam Beam, better known by the moniker Iron & Wine, comes Around the Well, a two-disc, 24-track collection of rare and never-before released songs. This album is a great sampling of Beam’s genius as a songwriter, and of the range displayed on earlier albums from The Creek Drank the Cradle to The Shepherd’s Dog, with plenty of Beam’s famous lo-fi hushed vocals, meandering guitar, and plucky banjo, but also with several tracks of multiple layers of vocals, piano, percussion, and electronic effects. And as always, there’s no dearth of Beam’s searching, Southern-inspired imagery in the always intensely poetic lyrics. Somehow mournful and joyous all at once, Iron & Wine’s Around the Well is haunting and altogether unforgettable. Review by Rachel Delph, Numéro Intern.

Get it at Co-Op Records in Campustown