Iron & Wine - The Shepherd’s Dog

In music, there is always a price to progress. Every artist aspires to create fresh and exciting material but, in order to do so, that artist has to let something go so that something new can flower. And the sound may change, for good or for bad.

Fans have seen a remarkably different album coming for a while. Everyone noticed the electronic presence in the Woman King EP and how well Sam Beam sounded with a fully amped band in his Calexico collaboration, In the Reins, and could tell that he had more than acoustic guitars and banjos on his mind. And so we have a whole new Iron and Wine in The Shepherd’s Dog.

The album opens, clearly intended to catch fans off guard and give listeners something not entirely expected. “Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car” opens with upbeat, clicking percussion and speedy guitar strums. Piano, violins, and harmonies fill out the rest of the sound, as well as some of psychedelic undertones. I applaud Iron and Wine for testing the boundaries and experimenting, but the music begins to become cluttered, which becomes a problem in the first half of the album. “White Tooth Man” featured acid guitar riffs and deep pounding drums. “Carousel” has some digital voice distortion and “House by the Sea” is so electronic it becomes a major distraction. Instrumental diversity is one thing, but I didn’t want to buy a folksy Pink Floyd album. This is not to say that these songs contained nothing good, far from it, but at a certain point I began to hear less of the music and more of the refrigerator hum that persists behind it all. The experimentation and varied soundscapes do give the album a certain cohesiveness that has not existed in other collections (songs do more than end while others begin) but ultimately become dead weight.

I would not be so critical of the experimentation if it didn’t hinder the greatest part of Iron and Wine: Sam Beam’s unmatched lyrical mind and his whispering woo. I am a firm believer that his voice should be first and foremost in every song. My favorite memory of the Sasquatch music festival a couple of years ago consisted of the gentle hum of Iron and Wine filling the entire Gorge Amphitheater; it was so simple yet so incredible powerful and substantial. Few other singers can captivate an audience like he can, and so no digital distortion, electric guitar, organ or any other musical additive should ever hinder his voice from coming out clearly, as it does in some of The Shepherd’s Dog. Thankfully, there are enough moments of clarity to redeem the remainder of the album.

“Innocent Bones” is a sunny (although lyrically ironic) tune that does not succumb to the clutter of earlier songs. The organic drums and electronic organ work to help the song, rather than hinder it. “Resurrection Fern” (without a doubt the most captivating song on the album and perhaps one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard) is simple, irresistibly lovely, and painfully intriguing. “Boy With A Coin” is gloomy, full of off-kilter percussions and varied sounds, but still able to find a good balance. “The Devil Never Sleeps” is reminiscent of the Doobie Brothers (or any other drug induced band of the 7’0s). It’s a classic-rock song about the open road, complete with lyrics about the fuzzy radio stations and train station telephones booths, shredding guitar solos and a constantly jamming jazz piano. The album concludes with “Flightless Bird, American Mouth”, a swaying, folksy love song. Iron and Wine finishes the album doing what Iron and Wine does best and that is playing timeless folk-rock with lyrics that are relatable, yet simultaneously unreachable.

Although much has changed musically since Creek Drank the Cradle, the lyrical strength has not faltered in the least bit. Sam Beam has an incredible ability to create fascinating characters and intriguing imagery while using some of the most sacred and cherished symbols and icons. In this album, angels interact with postmen. Christ walks in on poker games. Cain and Abel go to the county auction house. God sits with country children before flying around the world. He beautifully brings together the untouched parts of the American past and the universal characters and themes of our religious consciousness. These songs help me remember that the ancient and mythic human story and struggle continues even today. That real mystery can still exist in the information age; that the greatness of the modern mind cannot so easily tie a rope around the divine.

I appreciate the effort given to create something fresh and different. But Iron and Wine got so caught up creating something different, they almost created something unworthy. This album does well proving that Iron and Wine can make many different kinds of songs, and can make those songs come together in a diverse and upbeat album. There are many aspects of this album that I loved, but I didn’t appreciate having to sift through the electronic clutter in order to find them.