File this under it's about time. Sam Beam of Iron & Wine and Calexico have teamed up on In the Reins to tackle folk, pop, delta blues, country, jazz, and it couldn't sound sweeter. Hopefully this is just the first of many collaborations between the folkie Beam and indie rockers Calexico.
Beam handles the majority of the singing, but Calexico's Joey Burns backups Beam wonderfully. The harmonizing between the two is sublime. Separately Burns and Beam are whispery, and subtle, but together they fill holes left by each other if singing alone.
For both bands this is a first tackling jazz, blues, and even some pop music. The record's stand out track is "A History of Lovers". It will be a huge shock to fans of both these bands. The song is reminiscent of 1970s California pop. A mix between the Mamas and the Papas and Fleetwood Mac, a shocking mix, but in the end sounds unique in only a way these two artists could have done.
"He Lays in Reins", is a more typical song one would expect of a collaboration between the two. Sam Beam's soft singing harmonized with Burns and some brush drumming from John Convertino make the song a heavenly waltz. A little bit of Calexico shines through when in the middle of "He Lays in Reins" Spanish opera singer Salvador Duran makes an appearance.
Twinges of country shine through on "Prison on Route 41" and "Sixteen, Maybe Less". Paul Niehaus' lap steel guitar compliment Beam's soft whisper so well that the two seem seamless.
Imagine sitting in a smokey whiskey filled room when listening to "Red Dust" and "Burn that Broken Bed". "Red Dust" has that delta blues, while "Burn that Broken Bed" has a more smooth jazz feel.
Considering this is the first in hopefully a series of collaborations, it is scary how talented these two artists are. It will be great to see how Iron & Wine and Calexico take what they learned from each other and adapt that into their own bands. For now though bask in the glory that is In the Reins. |