Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog

Iron & Wine's new album is something of a surprise. The back catalogue of main man Sam Beam shows a fondness for stripped down melancholic folk songs, sticking to the format and rarely wavering from it. It's good news then that Beam has concocted his most accessible and upbeat album to date. Right from the opening track, the delightfully named Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car, it's clear that this is going to be a very different Iron & Wine album. Beam has hired a troupe of musicians to accompany him on this record and it gives his songs a much needed depth - while continuing to retain the melodic, whispered vocals of his previous records. Influences are seemingly drawn from everywhere from salsa to reggae and dub (check out the funky House By The Sea, and Wolves (Song of the Shepherd's Dog)) It's a solid, confident album and is proof that not every popular musician is simply a one-trick pony.

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gord.