Iron & Wine – The Sea & The Rhythm
Iron & Wine
The Sea & The Rhythm
Sub Pop Records
By August Mark Thomas Jude Pierre Francis Smith-Arcarese
“Love Never Fails” – 1 Corinthians 13
I would really like my whole review of this album to be simply, “This music is uncommonly beautiful,†but that wouldn’t be much of a review, would it?
With the words “Let’s go out and dance, darlin’…” pouring forth from Sam Beam’s beautifully understated, sultry voice, a new invasion has begun, crashing its powerful and much needed message from Heaven into our frail little world on the wings of legions of Angels.
Iron & Wine
The Sea & The Rhythm
Sub Pop Records
By August Mark Thomas Jude Pierre Francis Smith-Arcarese
“Love Never Fails” – 1 Corinthians 13
I would really like my whole review of this album to be simply, “This music is uncommonly beautiful,†but that wouldn’t be much of a review, would it?
With the words “Let’s go out and dance, darlin’…” pouring forth from Sam Beam’s beautifully understated, sultry voice, a new invasion has begun, crashing its powerful and much needed message from Heaven into our frail little world on the wings of legions of Angels.
In the Old Testament there’s a great Holy Man named Elijah the Tishbite, a strong man of God who called down fire from the sky upon Israel’s enemies. Two disciples of Jesus, James and John, were somewhat sarcastically called “The Sons of Thunder” for suggesting they would, in imitation of Elijah, call down fire upon Jesus’ enemies. Jesus rebuked them saying, “You do not know of what Spirit you are.â€
In our own time, James Ryle, a Vineyard movement protestant minister from Boulder, Colorado experienced a series of dreams he considers prophetic. Within the dreams, it’s suggested that God had ordained The Beatles as prophets, gave them divine power with which to perform their Holy task, but deferred, leaving their mission incomplete. Ryle refers to his vision as “The Sons of Thunder,†suggesting the nature of the Spirit which Jesus spoke of to the sons of Zebedee.
Sitting down for coffee after Mass last Sunday my dear, precious friend and mentor, Father Robert Hale, a Camaldolese Benedictine Monk, handed me a well worn copy of this album and suggested I might find something in it of value. I think it was Robert Anton Wilson, in the introduction to Isreal Regardie’s The Eye in The Triangle that suggested there were two kinds of certainty. The first is demonstrated by the response to the command “Bring me two pounds of six inch nails,†the second is “Bring me the kind of painting I like.†Father Robert demonstrated this second kind of certainty when he offered me this album. I must say it’s a great comfort to know someone understands my heart this well.
The Sea & The Rhythm is elusive and mysterious. It reminds me distinctly of someone, I just can’t really remember whom. Jesus said, “The wind blows where it will and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know from where it comes or to where it will go, thus it is with all those born of the Spirit.†I guess it reminds me a little of Red House Painters, Alan Ginsberg and the Beat Poets without the sarcasm; the use of biblical symbology is much more sincere. It has the dreamy / trippy quality of His Name Is Alive, the tangibly palpable spirituality of the 4AD groups, typified by Cocteau Twins. I can’t help thinking of Sub Pop label mates Sunny Day Real Estate, mostly due to the heartfelt sincerity of the songwriting. For those who are yet unfamiliar with such widely varying forms of alternative music, Iron & Wine is very much in the acoustic folk tradition of Bob Dylan, Gordon Lightfoot, Tim Buckley and Roy Harper, with a distinctly 3rd millennium touch.
The Sea & The Rhythm is a 21 minute EP, currently priced at $8.00 on Sub Pop’s website, but well worth the cost at any price. A new full length The Creek Drank The Cradle is available, which I have not heard, but you can bet I soon will. I look forward to following Sam Beam’s work, since I have fallen deeply in love with his muse. – (10/10)