Drawn from two concerts recorded with the band
Sam Beam
assembled around the time of his 2017 album
Beast Epic
,
Iron & Wine
's first proper live album,
Who Can See Forever
, presents stirring versions of songs drawn from throughout their long career. Sounding at once intimate and exploratory, the small group of
Beam
on guitar,
Sebastian Steinberg
on bass,
Beth Goodfellow
on drums and percussion, cellist
Teddy Rankin-Parker
on cello, and keyboardist
Eliza Hardy-Jones
deliver the intense introspection inherent in
's songs while stretching them out into loose,
Astral Weeks
territory. They have an almost telepathic way of filling in the spaces in between notes with just the right tender embellishment;
Steinberg
in particular chooses his spots with maximum impact in mind as he darts around the melodies with a limber grace that
Richard Davis
-- the bassist on
-- would have recognized. The group proves fully adept at the hushed ballads that are
's trademark, but also can shoot out dramatic sparks (as they do on elongated versions of "Monkeys Uptown" and "The Trapeze Swinger"), clunk artfully like
Tom Waits
("Wolves [Song of the Shepherd's Dog]"), and display some impressive cinematic uplift ("Call Your Boys").
's reliably strong vocals are joined throughout by lovely and supportive harmonies, providing a little bit of comfort to his tales of desperation and sadness. All these elements work together to give the songs a new dimension, and whether they top the originals is beside the point; it is exciting enough to hear a band as good as this working with
in a live setting, taking chances and reaching deep inside the songs to extract shiny new gold. It's hard to believe it took so long for
to document their live incarnation, but it is easy to believe that now that they finally have, it's as sophisticated, burnished, and emotionally true as this. ~ Tim Sendra