Iron & Wine & Ben Bridwell - Sing Into My Mouth
- Written by Gareth Hack
Country music has found its next preoccupying duo in Sam Beam of Iron & Wine, and Ben Bridwell of Band Of Horses. Delivering a collection of cover songs that take on a Western approach, Sing Into My Mouth is a well crafted interpretation of tunes by artists such as Talking Heads and JJ Cale.
The partnership of Beam and Bridwell, two of the most successful modern day folk musicians, gives Sing Into My Mouth room to breath and a voice of its own. The pair have tackled songs that could be judged as unimaginable and near impossible to shape shift into country tracks, but to their credit, it has been fulfilled in a smart fashion.
‘This Must Be The Place (Native Melody)’, originally performed by Talking Heads, works as a tremendous introduction. Beam and Bridwell have conditioned their explanation of the track and thrown in some true country fundamentals. Their voices support each other and work well as a coalescence. In the guitar work lies the clear Iron & Wine signature style. Deep and simple, yet it never loses the ability to be delightfully gentle and enthusiastic.
Bonnie Raitt’s ‘Any Day Woman’ is beautiful, but Beam and Bridwell’s version is charming also. The whirling slide guitar soothes as the pair produce a great vocal performance again, reinforcing one another throughout.
For all the greatness that the album has to offer in terms of the genre that it fits in, there is a small sense of an appetite on the verge of slowly fading. An appetite for more musical variation might be too much to ask for. Understandably, cover songs are risky business but the folk pair have definitely attempted to make their mark with these songs and they have pulled them off well. Although this is a collection of tracks originally performed by other artists, it could quite easily be an original Iron & Wine & Ben Bridwell record. They know what they do best, and the folk meets country style is something that for the minute, isn't going to change for the pair.
Sing Into My Mouth is Beam and Bridwell branching out into unknown territory slightly, by releasing an album of covers. But most importantly they know exactly where they want to go with them. Focus has allowed them to shed light onto other people’s songs in this reputable, virtuous handout.