Review: Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean

January 25, 2011
Warner Bros/4AD

 Rating:  7.1/10

Let me just start by saying that I am a bit of an Iron & Wine homer and often refer to the Floridian folk act as my favorite artist currently making music.  Agree or disagree with my tastes, that is in the least an impressive mathematical feat for a band mixed into a library with over 10,000 songs.  In fact, the title of this very blog is a nod to a lyric from "Lovesong of the Buzzard" from 2007's masterpiece, The Shepherd's Dog ("...Lucy in the shade of the dogwood blooms).

For me, it's about more than just the music that Sam Beam so brilliantly creates.  It's about a certain edges-blurred aesthetic that reminds me of simple times and simple places.  Vivid images of wind-blown quilts, swaying willow trees, softly trickling waterways and warm light cast through open windows are common in Beam's work.  If what I'm describing sounds overly Americana or rootsy, I guess it could be deceived as such.  But I urge you to take a look at the literary sincerity with which these passages are delivered.

From the brilliant closer to 2004's Our Endless Numbered Days simply titled "Passing Afternoon:"

There are things that drift away like our endless, numbered days
Autumn blew the quilt right off the perfect bed she made
And she's chosen to believe in the hymns her mother sings
Sunday pulls its children from their piles of fallen leaves

It's not exactly "she'll be comin' 'round the mountain when she comes," now is it?

But, as my dozen or so readers are used to, I digress.  Shifting to I&W's most recent output, let's feast our ears on Kiss Each Other Clean.  I suppose one of this gem's most obvious qualities is just how very shimmery it appears on first listen.  The production is much crisper with less room for air and more room for video arcade noises.  Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of quality musical moments to behold here.  But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little taken back when I heard the record scratches in "Me & Lazarus" and the Galaga dive bombs in "Monkeys Uptown."

Another production item of note is that Beam's voice is so full and clean sounding compared to the older bedroom folk and tape hiss albums.  Not necessarily a bad thing, but it takes some getting used to for sure.  Why whisper all the time when you have a voice like that anyway?

At no point are the vocal stylings more beautiful than on the album's incredible stand-out track, "Godless Brother In Love."  This is one of the most hauntingly memorable melodies that Sam has ever created.  To be honest, the uptempo horn-laden jam sessions won't stick as long with this die-hard fan.  So, having a ballad of this caliber kind of saves the album from its own leanings towards unbridled mediocrity (at least by I&W standards). 

Other flashes of sparkling grace fly by on "Walking Far From Home" and "Glad Man Singing."  Thus, the score for this review creeps up into the seven range.  The generic phrase that suits this record the best for me is "solid and enjoyable from front to back."  Does that help?  Don't expect Shepherd or Endless (or even parts of Around the Well, for that matter), but the songcraft here is respectable and will merit many return visits from me over the years.  Hopefully it will be just another petal in the flower garden of Beam's long and fruitful career.

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