Every Thursday, Pop Addict presents infectious tunes from contemporary musicians across indie rock, pop, folk, electronica, and more.
Iron and Wine: Kiss Each Other Clean (Warner Bros., 1/25/11)
Iron and Wine: “Walking Far from Home”
[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Iron_and_Wine_Walking_Far_From_Home.mp3|titles=Iron and Wine: “Walking Far from Home”]
When Iron and Wine made its debut in 2002 with underground sensation The Creek Drank the Cradle, it immediately became apparent that there was something special at hand. The album — anchored by lo-fi acoustic finger-picking set to Sam Beam’s hushed, harmonized vocals — featured no bells and whistles. It remains a blunt testament of Beam’s humble offerings as a songwriter and the splendor that he can achieve through it. Today, when listening to the album, you still get the feeling that the songs were written by Beam while he sat on the front porch of a ramshackle home, located on a dirt farm somewhere down south, singing “Upward Over the Mountain” as the late summer sun sets beyond the horizon.
