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- Summary: The seventh full-length studio release from Sam Beam as Iron & Wine features a guest appearance by Fiona Apple.
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- Record Label: Sub Pop
- Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock
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Apr 30, 2024Both harmonically and melodically, Light Verse is more expansive, yet its arrangements are tighter. No longer the lone troubadour, Beam is backed by a group of LA musicians whose expert subtlety bolsters Beam’s magnetic quietude—even when Hollywood strings swell or the accompaniment reaches near cacophony.
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May 1, 2024He’s not shaking those defining qualities on Light Verse. Instead, that distinctive voice is a foundation for towering songs, an album that grows and blooms with epic crescendos (“Yellow Jacket”), slow-burn earworm hooks (“Anyone’s Game”), and tongue-in-cheek, Shakespearean clown wisdom (“Nobody’s perfect or as dumb as their luck”).
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Apr 24, 2024Quirky yet profound, playful but often deeply moving, Light Verse is a record to savour in one sitting, its ten tracks comprising a seriously impressive whole that’s considerably more potent than the sum of its unfailingly impressive individual parts.
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Apr 24, 2024Pushing 50 Iron & Wine proves he still has much to say in a hypnotic record full of lush production, highlighting the warmth and timelessness of his vocals. If not one necessarily to win over new fans, this will delight longtime fans who have been along for the ride.
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Apr 26, 2024Beam has done this kind of thing before, but he seems to be digging a little deeper lyrically here, while crafting arrangements that are truly lush and lovely, better than any on previous Iron & Wine albums. That's a high bar, but he soars over it with plenty of room to spare, and in the end Light Verse turns out to be one of the most enjoyable, varied, and well-crafted of the band's records.
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Apr 29, 2024Light Verse is a lively, relatively breezy album, despite its somber subject matter. He worked with a new crew of musicians, including bassist Sebastian Steinberg and multi-instrumentalist Davíd Garza, who make sure their flourishes never distract from the pith of his songs.
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Apr 25, 2024Iron & Wine’s catalog is peppered with albums that experiment and push the boundaries of the format that Beam chose with The Creek Drank the Cradle over 20 years ago. Light Verse is not one of those albums. Instead, it finds Beam doing what he does best, refining those songwriting touches and instrumental backdrops that are present in his most captivating work.