Like many people, Sam Beam had a tough time during the COVID-19 pandemic. He found it hard to write music while struggling with all the various mental and physical hardships that were a part of it. Iron & Wine were represented during the time by archival releases, but it wasn't until he had an EP of Lori McKenna covers (released as the Lori EP in 2023) under his belt that Beam was able to start working on his own songs again. Perhaps because of the time lag, the songs he began working on reflected a more positive tone, focusing on acceptance, the need for human connection, and even joy. The results became the 2024 album Light Verse, likely the lightest, most playful album in the I&W catalog. Beam recorded the basic tracks with a small band in a Laurel Canyon studio, then added string overdubs in a later session. This strategy gives the record both an intimate and wide-open feeling that melds perfectly with the lyrical approach that could be described as expansive introspection. It's not a million miles away from earlier I&W albums that added more orchestration to the band's usual template, but unlike them there is an airy, feather-light feel to the arrangements. Beam floats above it all as usual with his calmly majestic vocals, swooping over the sawed strings on the rambling opener "You Never Know," lightly stepping through "Cutting It Close," scraping up a little bit of angsty growl on "Tears That Don't Matter," and duetting nimbly with a suitably restrained Fiona Apple on "All in Good Time." He even proves on the surprisingly bubbly "Sweet Talk" that he's not a bad pop singer either. Over the course of the record, the words and music, the vocals and arrangements, all come together to form a mosaic of Astral Weeks-era Van Morrison, early (and pastoral) Rod Stewart, and every singer/songwriter with the skill to build their songs from the inside out to make something fragile yet monumental. Beam has done this kind of thing before, but he seems to be digging a little deeper lyrically here, while crafting arrangements that are truly lush and lovely, better than any on previous Iron & Wine albums. That's a high bar, but he soars over it with plenty of room to spare, and in the end Light Verse turns out to be one of the most enjoyable, varied, and well-crafted of the band's records. ~ Tim Sendra