Iron & Wine - Beast Epic 2LP
"I must confess that I’ve always shied away from album introductions citing the usual "dancing to architecture" cop out. Speaking to their own work is uncomfortable for many artists, but I’ve made a new album called Beast Epic which is important to me and I wanted to take a moment to talk about why.
"I’ve been releasing music for about fifteen years now and I feel very blessed to have put out five other full lengths, many EPs and singles, a few collaborations with people much more talented than myself, and made contributions to numerous movie scores and soundtracks.
"This is my sixth collection of new Iron and Wine material and I’m happy to say that it’s my fourth for Sub Pop Records. It’s a warm and serendipitous time to be reuniting with my Seattle friends because I feel there’s a certain kinship between this new collection of songs and my earliest material, which Sub Pop was kind enough to release. In hindsight, both The Creek Drank the Cradle (2002) and Our Endless Numbered Days (2004) epitomize a reflective and confessional songwriting style (although done with my own ferocious commitment to understatement, of course.) I have been and always will be fascinated by the way time asserts itself on our bodies and our hearts.
"The ferris wheel keeps spinning and we’re constantly approaching, leaving or returning to something totally unexpected or startlingly familiar. The rite of passage is an image I've returned to often because I feel we’re all constantly in some stage of transition. Beast Epic is saturated with this idea but in a different way simply because each time I return to the theme I’ve collected new experiences to draw from.
"Where the older songs painted a picture of youth moving wide-eyed into adulthood’s violent pleasures and disappointments, this collection speaks to the beauty and pain of growing up after you’ve already grown up. For me, that experience has been more generous in its gifts and darker in its tragedies."
Tracklist:
1. Claim Your Ghost
2. Thomas County Law
3. Bitter Truth
4. Song in Stone
5. Summer Clouds
6. Call It Dreaming
7. About a Bruise
8. Last Night
9. Right for Sky
10. The Truest Stars We Know
11. Our Light Miles
12. Hearts Walk Anywhere
13. Kicking the Old Rain
14. About a Bruise (Demo)
15. Claim Your Ghost (Demo)
16. Summer Clouds (Demo)
About this product: this is the Deluxe Edition on 2x red / blue vinyl, housed in a gatefold sleeve. D-side features etched artwork. Includes a download code.