Tag Archives: Iron & Wine

What we’re listening to — Tree By The River by Iron & Wine

Iron & Wine is such good band with so many fine songs that they definitely deserve a good, comprehensive post when time permits. In the meantime, here’s one of my favorite tracks of theirs, “Tree By The River” off of 2011’s Kiss Each Other Clean

Kiss Each Other Clean featured a much more heavily produced sound than the stripped down acoustic vibe of their previous albums. I really liked that more pop-y feel and “Tree By The River” has all sorts of 70s singer-songwriter influences and hooks while being saved from being maudlin or trite by the penetrating honesty of the lyrics.

But for those purists who insist that their I&W be consistently bare bones here’s a take with bearded mastermind Samuel Beam solo on guitar that could have come off of any of the early 2000s albums.

A bittersweet beauty anyway you play it. And best of all the entire album is a free stream with an Amazon Prime membership. Life is good.

More I&W to come…