Wine 2017

Despite having a title that suggests a new thrash metal direction, Sam Beam’s sixth album as Iron & Wine essays yet more romantic, Americana-tinged songwriting, and it’s cosier than ever. As Beam sings poetically in his goose-down voice, cadences resolve as contentedly as old married couples, even in songs of friction such as Bitter Truth. Call it Dreaming is the most robust thing here, and its emotional clarity – “For all the love you’ve left behind / you can have mine” – ensures it will soundtrack wedding photo slideshows for all eternity. But just as everything threatens to blur into a copper-coloured autumnal haze, Beam adds quirks to keep the beauty in sharp relief: the album’s most elegant vocal melody, on Last Night, is backed by the spartan, impetuous plink of violins and glockenspiel. These songs may be modest – none break the four-minute mark – and undemanding, but their sure-footed craft creates profound, 12-tog comfort.

Despite having a title that suggests a new thrash metal direction, Sam Beam’s sixth album as Iron & Wine essays yet more romantic, Americana-tinged songwriting, and it’s cosier than ever. As Beam sings poetically in his goose-down voice, cadences resolve as contentedly as old married couples, even in songs of friction such as Bitter Truth.