Woman King - EP

Sam Beam is a poet. This whole EP is beautiful poems for women. My favorite is Liliths song

This is by far my favorite Iron & Wine album, and at least in my top ten for all time. It's not quite "classic" Iron & Wine, and I know I'm probably in the minority when I say I prefer this album to Endless Numbered Days or even Creek Drank the Cradle (another favorite), but the musical style here is so varied. The banjo solo in Jezebel could make you cry. Gray Stables is just an all-around solid and gorgeous song, maybe the best on the album, though it doesn't quite seem fair to rank them. Woman King (the song) has some great percussion going on, especially given that I wouldn't have thought to consider that one of I&W's strengths. Evening On the Ground as actually just a terrifying song, in the best way. Definitely worth a listen. Just buy the whole thing.

Woman King was a very interesting, positive and pleasant surprise that broke away from Sam Beam's traditional acousitc ideals in music. Songs like Gray Stables turn up the bass and take you for a sly ride, while songs like Jezebel will lull you with their simplicity. A perfect picture of the south, Beam's homeland. It's hard to top an album like this (or EP). The smooth, pleasing sounds will haunt you with your own mind and inspire pictures of beauty in your heart; this is a brilliantly written, and easily enjoyable record from an amazingly talented writer.

I was listening to Pandora - to a station linked to Bon Iver and every time I really liked a song I checked who it was and it turned out to be Iron and Wine -- Jezebel, Gray Stables, My Lady's House -- really peaceful and moving songs.

Freedom Hangs Like Heaven is a great song, one of the best I've heard yet. If you like Iron & Wine this EP is definitely worth your money.

I have to admit I am one of the newest fans of Iron & Wine. But I was hooked instantly with the rich, deep, and soothing harmonics of voice, string, and percussion. The quiet and reverent tone of each track adds a degree of seriousness and urgency to the whole album. Listening to Woman King is like getting a bear hug of sound to the ears. The perfectly blended vocals of siblings Sam and Sara Beam will leave you wanting more. The percussion and acoustic guitars unexpectedly grab at your attention with each folk-like measure. The addition of piano and banjo parts testifies to Iron & Wine's fearlessness to chart a familiar but less-traveled territory of sound.

The title song is great, and everything else is damn good. Worth your money.

The Woman King EP unites musically different material around a common theme of womanhood. Beam's exploration of the feminine leads off with the synth-heavy "Woman King," a driving and staccato epic that spans generations in merely four minutes. The strongest song on the album, "Jezebel," is a melodic paean to the biblical anti-hero heavy with tongue-in-cheek religious symbolism. Beam may claim agnosticism, but it's not for lack of exposure -- fans of his work will note the strong religious bent, though this song is neither pious nor holy. The precisely orchestrated "Freedom Hangs Like Heaven" speeds along like a honkey-tonk Pieta, all piano and quick bluegrass guitar plucking. The only misstep is "My Lady's House," a snoozer of an effort which introduces neither an interesting character nor a memorable musical treatment. Thick and syrupy, it's missing the urgent intimacy of his better works. Still, Woman King is a superior compilation, and it demonstrates the concentrated essence of a truly remarkable musician.

I still think Creek is his best work and his lo-fi stuff sounds much better but, this is still very good. The crazy percussion of the first track is something we have yet to hear and I like it.

iron and wine never ceases to amaze me time and time again. sam has amazing songs with rapturing melodies that you cant stop listening to; i've easily become addicted to this band they are one of my all time favorites. every cd is excellent.