IRON & WINE
Woman King
Sub Pop
· A tiny swoon.
Sam Beam is graced with one of those voices with which he could sing a takeout menu and still make it fascinating – a whisper-soft and sweet Steve Earle more concerned with matters of the heart than bloody revolution.
In response to last year's lovely and wrenching Our Endless Numbered Days, Woman King edges Beam's simple romantic dirges towards the blues-shuffle band you know he's always wanted. On "Freedom Hangs Like Heaven," the introduction of a barroom piano hits with a wallop while the title track's womanly choir backups mix with Beam's sigh perfectly.
Still, Beam's always at his best when he’s simple and sweet. At only six tracks, it's hard to form a relationship with Woman King, but the stately love stories of "Jezebel" and "In My Lady's House" offer up at least a short winter fling edged in brilliance.
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