Iron and Wine: Our Endless Numbered Days : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Sam Beam whisper-sings like a shy bee buzzing around your ear. He's enchanting, even hypnotizing, but there's a grim streak of beauty underlying the second full-length album this cinematographer with the mountain man beard has recorded under the name Iron and Wine. Look past the inevitable Nick Drake comparisons and you'll find the decaying, macabre charm of Bush's lyrics soaring above his spare, backwoods finger-picking and simple folk arrangements. From guns growing out of bones ("On Your Wings") and promises of spreading a lover's ashes across the yard ("Naked as We Came") to the beautifully sinister threat of finding "Teeth in the Grass," Bush blurs the line between love and death, making the latter sound like the ultimate gift.