REVIEW: Iron and Wine "Woman King EP"

Rating: 7.5

Florida's indie wonder Sam Beam has been building momentum ever since he debuted as Iron & Wine.  Last year's follow up LP Our Endless Numbered Days added a few jangles and cleaner production to an otherwise rustic minimalism.  With Woman King Beam ratchets the rhythm up ever so subtly once again, running the risk of sounding downright driven, excited even.  If you were guessing that the bee in his seat must be female in nature I'd be inclined to say you're right.

Each of the EP's six songs makes direct reference to capital "W" Women or to a particular woman in some way or another.  And most of the songs move with an urgency that verges on the not so quiet.  Hell, "Freedom Hangs Like Heaven" is one choir, a few handclaps and an Amen short of bone fide revival tent gospel blues.

Beam's poetry is consistently rich and his near-whisper delivery is dovetailed again by sister Sarah Beam's light vocal touch.  Each song, even the album, plays like a poignant scene in a bigger picture.  We are not given all the details or even a beginning or end.  Instead we hear a sense of direction, a source of light, a change, a motivation.

Background hiss of DIY production has been replaced by the low warm buzz of electric guitars and an expertly chaffed fiddle.  Beam appears to be setting his own course with clear-eyed determination, as if he's seen the bigger picture and it's just starting to get good.  The fact that this is an EP - often a post-script on what came last or a bridge to new material - bodes well for the future since the feeling is energetically new even if the tools and tone seem familiar.