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Click to close Iron and Wine The Shepherd's Dog (sub Pop) CD $14

I heard Iron and Wine's first release, The Creek Drank the Cradle, on a snowy night in Bozeman, Mont., six years ago. Walking into my friend's rickety old shack, the lo-fidelity sound, hushed vocals, and succinct rhythmic finger picking caught my attention immediately. It was instantly perfect. Playing chess, snow blowing outside, we listened to the album play countless times.

Since then, Iron and Wine (the stage name for one man, Sam Beam), has been music I've kept my ear on. I am always impressed with Beam's songwriting, his intimate style dwelling on classic themes of love, God, and loss. I've also been impressed with his evolution as a musician whose music and arrangements continue to remain surprising. What was once a raw beauty has become more and more complete, his arrangements constantly featuring new instruments and creative arrangements.

In contrast to the quiet and whispery The Creek Drank the Cradle, which, according to legend was largely recorded while Beam's daughters were sound asleep, The Shepherd's Dog reveals Beam's new full-band sound, with roots found in his two previous EP's: In The Reins (full-band collaboration with Tucson's Calexico) and Woman King.

The Shepherd's Dog showcases Beam's musical versatility and contains pieces of the blues, dub-reggae, and West African music. On many of its tracks, you can hear Beam's voice layered over and over itself, bringing The Shepherd's Dog a sonic sound far removed from Beam's low-fi roots.

A boy with a coin he found in the weeds with bullets and pages of trade magazines/Close to a car that flipped on the turn when god left the ground to circle the world/A girl with a bird she found in the snow then flew up her gown and that how she knows/that god made her eyes for crying at birth and then left the ground to circle the earth. Thus begins "Boy With a Coin," The Shepherd's Dog first single, an upbeat track featuring wonderful harmonies between Beam and his sister Sarah. Wildly contagious, "Boy With a Coin" features stunning slide guitar and clapping and drumbeat to keep rhythm. Here Beam finds the perfect blend of new and old.

"The Devil Never Sleeps" follows "Boy With a Coin" and is a two-minute romp into the blues; I'd love to hear it played live. Highlighting its heavy rhythm are keyboards, a shirking guitar and lyrics evoking an imagery of loss. Dreamin' again that it's freezin' and my mother's in a flower bed/Long dead rows of daffodils and marigolds/Changin' her face like a shadow on the ground/No one lives forever and the devil never sleeps alone/Everybody bitchin' there's nothing on the radio. "The Devil Never Sleeps Alone" ends as abruptly as its opening gains steam.

"Wolves (The Song of the Shepherd's Dog)" takes a trip into reggae and dub. The beauty of this trip is that Beam's rendition is entirely natural, by no means a rip-off or feeble attempt. The reggae sound provides a haunting backdrop to Beam's chronically evocatively stunning lyrics. Wolves by the road and a bike wheel spinning on a pawnshop wall/She'll wring out her colored hair like a butterfly beaten in a summer rain.

Beam and his family, originally from Florida, have relocated to the music hotbed Austin, Texas and as a result of his new location will be skirting around and through the Four Corners for a number of shows. Iron and Wine can be found on November 26 in Tucson at the Fox, December 7 at the Great Saltair in Magna, UT, December 8 in Denver and December 9 at the El Rey in Albuquerque.

Hear Paul Paradis's "French Press" show every Thursday from 6 - 8 a.m. on KDUR 91.9 FM and 93.9 FM, where you can listen to everything from indie rock and Top 40 to German electronic music.