The Bottom Line: One of the most impossibly perfect groupings of songs to be put together in the last few years, Our Endless Numbered Days proves that Sam Beam is a musical genius.
lambchops's Full Review: Our Endless Numbered Days by Iron & Wine
I don’t think I’ve ever used the phrase musical genius. Maybe I have…but certainly not in reference to a contemporary band or artist. That’s all about to change. Sam Beam aka Iron & Wine is the epitome of musical genius. I will admit that despite completely enjoying his debut (The Creek Drank the Cradle) I was unsure about where his appeal lay—was it in his music, or the decidedly lo-fi production?
You may as well just consider me godsmacked.
See, any doubts I once had about Iron & Wine’s staying power or mass appeal have been wiped away by the outstanding beauty of his sophomore album titled Our Endless Numbered Days. Quite simple put, this is what music is about—it is lovely, timeless, intelligent, and original. There has been little if anything better released by any artist in the last couple years.
Iron & Wine is a strange character. He is a mysterious fellow who resides in southern Florida (Miami, it is said) where he is a cinematography instructor at a college. Sam Beam is his real name and it was his choice to record a grouping of songs simply and starkly on a tapedeck. But instead of just filing his jewel away, he managed to earn the attention of (strangely enough) Seattle-based SubPop after sending in two complete albums. The label soon quietly released the first album as-is in the form of The Creek Drank the Cradle in 2002. It got resoundingly positive reviews, but still people were slow to warm to Beam’s country-folk-rock-backwoods style.
If forced to compare Iron & Wine to any other artist, I would have to say he is most similar to Jim White. White, a fellow Floridian, specializes in surreal booze-soaked alt-country. Beam, on the other hand, has a mellower and more thoughtful approach to his music—and for this reason (among others) I believe Our Endless Numbered Days belongs in many eclectic music collections.
Dusky, strange, and bleak Our Endless Numbered Days is a challenging and wonderful thing. Despite the upped production values, Iron & Wine’s second album remains quaint and feels as though you’ve stumbled upon something special—a four leafed clover or a bald eagle or maybe even a unicorn. It is truly that unique and awe-inspiring. Each of the twelve songs is worth admiring—some are sparse and feature just Beam and his guitar while others feature his sister’s voice and highly polished instruments.
I am very appreciative of the improved recording values—suddenly it seems Sam Beam’s music is much more than just a sweat-stained Faulkner folk. This is American music, the kind that has been largely buried from public viewing for decades. I would have honestly been content if the uniquely talented singer-songwriter had just done the same thing again, but he’s managed to expand and improve on Our Endless Numbered Days. I really can’t say too many times that I adore this album.
The mood is set with haunting opening song On Your Wings. Marked by a carefully plucked guitar and strummed washboard, Beam’s is perfectly soothing but at the same time incredibly weird. The whole arrangement is strange—but strange in a good way. And the lyrics? Well, there’s been no diminishment in quality there since his last outing:
How we rise when we’re born
like the ravens in the corn
on their wings, on our knees
crawling careless from the sea
Melody is the centerpiece to many of Beam’s new songs. Naked as We Came is as simple as it is genuinely magnificent. With just a guitar and the help of his sister’s backing vocals, Iron & Wine crafted what is nothing short of a miraculous song. While I adore his darkest songs this new attention to almost pop-like melody adds a new and interesting slant to his album. This is the kind of song that will undoubtedly attract a new crop of fans.
Each song builds upon the last and leads into the next gracefully. Cinder and Smoke and Sunset Soon Forgotten are both outstanding offerings. The former returns to that strange dark place explored on the opening song. The latter, on the other hand, is inspiring and light and widely appealing. But I think the dank banjo augmented melody of Teeth in the Glass is one of the most striking things on the album. The clean, haunting, surreal folk appeal of the song really brings the whole album together for me.
Continuing on there are so many great things about this album. Some songs aren’t as special for me, but I have no doubt that another set of ears will think differently. Love and Some Verses has one of the loveliest choruses here, but there are better songs. Radio War is similarly appealing though it is with Each Coming Night that the album’s sweet, somber tone can be best experienced. Beam’s voice is calm and rich and the guitar and banjo are perfect. Free Until They Cut Me Down is on the surface a folky country song. But delving just beneath the surface turns up the fact that it is something more—something from out the Florida swamps that ranks among the album’s best offerings.
Fever Dream is a gentle ballad unlike anything else available on Our Endless Numbered Days. It’s starkly sweeping melody is evocative—not to mention unflawed (as with everything else on the album). Sodom, South Georgia is a roughly cut soft rock gem that is worth waiting out the entire length of the album. It all ends on a positive note with Passing Afternoon, a cool and summery folk song peppered with piano, guitar, banjo and vocals.
Also worth mentioning is the Bonus CD containing four demos. Both Cinder and Smoke and Free Until They Cut Me Down are present in their original form—recorded starkly on the simplest of devices. It is clear that they were only subtly changed for final release—mostly by way of less muted production. The other two offerings, Swans and Swimming and Hickory, are previously unreleased Iron & Wine offerings. They go to show that the choice to include some tracks and not others on the official releases was basically arbitrary. Clearly, everything that Beam provides to SubPop is genius.
While I am most drawn to the album’s first half, I can’t help but think that this is one of the most brilliant things I’ve heard in the last few years. The centerpiece is of course Beam’s vocals and his songwriting, but I think that his sister Sarah helps to make many of the songs on Our Endless Numbered Days something very special and important. Their chemistry is wonderful and flawless—the kind of thing I can’t help but think is exclusive to siblings. This is a mature, timeless, emotional, and intelligent album without the false boundaries set up by one musical genre or another. Iron & Wine is the kind of thing you must hear to truly understand (which you probably won’t) and believe.
Rating: 5/5 stars
Track Listing:
01. On Your Wings
02. Naked as We Came
03. Cinder and Smoke
04. Sunset Soon Forgotten
05. Teeth in the Glass
06. Love and Some Verses
07. Radio War
08. Each Coming Night
09. Free Until They Cut Me Down
10. Fever Dream
11. Sodom, South Georgia
12. Passing Afternoon
Bonus Disc:
01. Cinder and Smoke
02. Swans and the Swimming
03. Free Until They Cut Me Down
04. Hickory
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