Tom Lynch

Living essentially in the middle of nowhere seems to serve a songwriter like Sam Beam quite well.

After two full-length records, a couple of EPs and a collaborative split-album with Calexico, Beam’s Iron and Wine has become a household name, at least in the households that prefer a whisper to a howl. Beam’s gentle and unobtrusive vocal delivery—often complemented by a harmony or two—secretively marches along with his elegant, mostly finger-picked acoustic-guitar playing, and his 2002 Sub Pop debut, "The Creek That Drank the Cradle," offered the most charming pieces of intimate, unassuming home-recording. Every hiss and scratch was perfectly in place with each of Beam’s laments and promises, and it quickly gathered him attention—surprising, considering he at first didn’t intend on releasing the record at all. An EP followed, but it wasn’t until 2004’s brilliant "Our Endless Numbered Days" (also on Sub Pop) that Beam began his true ascent, mostly with the help of the gorgeous single "Naked As We Came," plus his cover of The Postal Service’s "Such Great Heights," which appeared on the soundtrack for "Garden State."

The more adventurous "Woman King" EP came later, as well as his collaboration with Calexico, a full-band affair titled "In the Reins," plus the opportunity to write the music for the film "In Good Company" (in which the song "The Trapeze Swinger" rests, possibly Beam’s best). The sound began to change. Still painfully private, the scope was still expanding, Beam including more and more instrumentation and writing less and less love songs—the folksy, Southern-tinged result marked a new era for Iron and Wine. Beam went from poignant singer-songwriter to full-fledged band leader.

Two years ago Beam and his family relocated from southern Florida to a multi-acre lot in Dripping Springs, Texas, in an effort to escape city-life hustle and for Beam to build himself a home studio. The spacious, atmospheric environment that his new home surely provides certainly had an effect on the writing of "The Shepherd’s Dog," Iron and Wine’s new record, one that continues down the path of darker and darker tones and themes. The instrumentation is advanced and expertly crafted—while off-putting at first, Beam’s new collection of songs grows deeper and bolder with each listen. Songs like opener "Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car" and single "Boy with a Coin" show the new Iron and Wine, more complex musically, more ambitious in construction and execution. Some other tracks on the record, like the superb "Resurrection Fern" and closer "Flightless Bird, American Mouth," help bridge the gap between the older records and this new effort. In the end, "The Shepherd’s Dog" is another must-hear from Beam, even if it’s only to admire his dedication to finding new sounds with each endeavor.

"I don’t like the idea of putting out the same record," Beam says on the phone from his home, his voice as serene and soothing as one might expect. (Actually, it’s damn relaxing to hear the man speak.) "This definitely went further than I expected. At the same time, though, I want people to like the music, I would hate for people to be disappointed. Any time you do something different, subtle or drastic, people seem to get bent out of shape."

He says his work with the band Calexico played a large part in this record’s creation. "It was a big part," he says. "That was the first collaboration I’d done and it taught me a lot about leaving space [in songs] for arrangements, and that part of the joy of working with people is discovering the things along the way you didn’t think about. It wasn’t like I was opposed to doing it before, I just didn’t have the experience."

He continues, "I knew I wanted to do something a bit more complex. These songs lend themselves well to that—I felt like there was a kind of underlying restlessness through them, and it was fun to reflect that in arrangements."

Beam agrees that the lyrical content has taken a much dimmer turn, sometimes taking on political themes and attacking religious hypocrisy (on "Innocent Bones," he goes after those Pentecostal Christians). "It’s definitely more social in context, not as many love songs," he says. "There’s a lot of things that can be taken in different ways, I think that there’s a surreal quality [to the songs]. Honestly, there’s a lot that goes on these days that I’m interested in, too."

Beam says he enjoys the perks of both playing live with a band—you can achieve such different sounds, really change a song around—and playing solo, where you can basically do whatever you want and aren’t restricted to what’s been practiced. But the biggest difference is not the new sound, it’s the working conditions. Having four daughters takes up a lot of time. "It’s definitely more difficult than it used to be," he says. "I do my best to treat it like a job. Basically I have to carve out time, in the morning, when most of the kids are at school."

Doesn’t he mind treating musicianship like a job? "I kind of like the idea," Beam says. "Inspiration is a weird bird. You never know. It’s so much more about rewriting then it is about inspiration. I just like the craft of songwriting."

At the Pitchfork Music Festival this past July, Iron and Wine, full band in gear, debuted much of its new record to an enthusiastic crowd. There wasn’t a hint of the old Beam. But when he returned for an encore, by himself armed with only an acoustic guitar, you weren’t sure what was coming. Requests for "Naked As We Came" and "The Trapeze Swinger" were tossed from the audience. Then, a shocker—a beautiful, lethargic cover of Radiohead’s "No Surprises," from the band’s revolutionary "OK Computer." Just out of curiosity, I asked him why he chose that song. "That one I thought was fun," he says, laughing. "I thought what we were going to be presenting [during the set] was so different. I thought this was funny. I always liked that song, though. It’s such a pretty song."

Iron and Wine play September 23 at Metro, 3730 North Clark, (773)549-0203, at 7pm. $26.

(2007-09-18)

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