Iron & Wine - Woman King

Iron & Wine is basically one guy: Sam Beam. Mostly recognized by his big beard, Beam consistently delivers smooth, melodic vocals and tasty acoustic guitar work with all his music. He uses some guest musicians and vocalists on occasion, but mostly it’s just one guy with a few (primarily acoustic) instruments and multi-track recorder. I love the sonic layering intricacy of what he creates.

Beam has a few full albums under his belt (as Iron & Wine), but my favorite is a six song EP called Woman King. Musically, he creates what seems like rhythmic loops that continue to build and transform as the song progresses. Lyrically, there’s plenty of meaning and depth, although sometimes controversial or mysterious in content. More specifically about this album, Woman King seems to be written about historical women from what I can tell. Honestly, I’m still scratching my head about the meaning or inspiration of some of these tunes, but Jezebel seems to recall some of the events written about in 1 & 2 Kings about Jezebel, who marries King Ahab. It seems like a slightly twisted version of the story, but nevertheless, it’s a powerful song that fits right in to this collection as a whole.

If you haven’t heard it, I highly recommend it. This EP is like a full album with the “filler” songs removed. It’s one worth listening to on repeat mode.

Listen to this album