A Dreamy Folk Album of Epic Production

The sixth full-length work from Iron & Wine, titled Beast Epic, is a well put-together piece that is full of life and strong, emotive music. Singer/songwriter Sam Beam has a gift for warm and melodic folk songs that are heavy on acoustic guitar as well as rich in interesting imagery. The songs on Beast Epic are lush folk productions. 

In the song “Last Night,” the interesting choices of instrumentation really stand out. There are plucked strings and vibraphone sounds and most exciting are the quick fly-ins of out-of-tune string riffs to keep the listeners intrigued. The aspect of the live playing sounds on this album is what makes it intimate and fresh. You can hear clearly every string snap and percussion hit in the songs, creating a unique ambiance.

Each song is arranged and produced masterfully with robust acoustic guitars always at the forefront, at times even harmonizing and complementing each other with finger-picked arpeggios. It’s interesting to hear a folk album in 2017 produced so cleanly but still retain the warmth, immediateness and live quality that is so special for the genre. A stand out track is “Call It Dreaming” because of its catchy chorus and gradual build up to a happy folk jam. The song is a call for people coming together. Beam sings, “where we can drift and call it dreaming / where we can weep and call it singing.” There’s always some tinge of tragedy in the thoughts he conveys. Like at the end of the chorus, the instrumentation gives way to just his lone voice singing, “for all the love you’ve left behind, you can have mine.”

In a sort of folk music tradition, this album heavily features Beam’s nature inspired lyrics. Songs like “Song in Stone” and “Right for Sky” carry themes of the countryside and at times may sound a little too tongue and cheek in comparison to the universal themes Beam addresses on this album. “Bitter Truth” reads as the most relatable relationship song. Introspectively, he writes about a past love and perhaps “getting even in a song.” This track is mostly absent of bucolic nature images and is over a mid-tempo pop/country arrangement that someone like John Mayer would feel comfortable with. He recalls the ups and downs of a relationship capturing the feelings of a frustrated lover as he sings, “you better love yourself / cause I’ve tried.”

Beam leaves us with “Our Light Miles,” a soft ode to time passing. With sweet harmonies and sparse accents of piano, it’s the perfect backdrop for his poetic lyrics, “no one looks wrong in rain / hope builds a house / too much prayer to tear down.”

What keeps Beast Epic accessible to mainstream folk or indie audiences is the comparison it has to more pop-style singer-songwriters such as Jack Johnson. There is a strong pop melodic sense through most of the songs on this album that sounds very modern. The smoothness and agility of Beam’s voice is impressive. When that is joined with large, warm harmonies it makes each song an easy listening experience. Parts of the album tend to sound similar, with songs beginning with the same slow acoustic guitar and languid vocals. Only the ones that build into something bigger with larger choruses seem truly memorable. In Beast Epic the lush sounds of folk blend smoothly with strong and emotive language.