Everybody’s bitching there’s nothing on the radio.
I’m fighting off a cold/chest thing. Spring equals allergies and sinus issues. I mistakenly thought I was skating by while others around me were suffering. Wrong. I am under the weather, which is rainy and gray. The low tonight is suppose to be 28 degrees. Really? Sigh. Give me something light and airy please; something that isn’t as heavy as my chest. I’ve got it, Iron & Wine.
This album can accompany a myriad of moods or situations. Like I’ve already mentioned, “The Shepherd’s Dog” can work for someone laying on the couch (insert cough) trying to not be sick. Volume up, it also feels like a car ride on the open road against a wide, blue sky. Mid-day tea, Sunday brunch, night in the city; neon takes flight, take your pick really. Sneeze.
The enjoyment of this record is the man behind Iron & Wine–Sam Beam. His songs offer small vignettes in folk rock with layers and textures and lyrical imagery that paints pictures in greens, blues and yellow. They are rich, not as simple as they may sound and evoke emotional gestures of gentle fluidity. A variety of instruments, like that of a fruit bowl, add to the flavors on the disc, bananas, oranges, grapes. After my helping of “The Shepherd’s Dog,” I am still not feeling well but I am most certainly musically content.
365, Album of the Day 2014 