Weed Garden
This EP collects extra Iron & Wine tracks written for 2017’s *Beast Epic*, with the same lineup helping Sam Beam extend that album’s cozier-is-better ethic, digging deeper into themes of mortality and solace. The tracks range from playful (“Last of Your Rock ’n’ Roll Heroes”) to intimate (“Talking to Fog”). This EP also contains the first studio recording of live favorite “Waves of Galveston,” a tasty lagniappe tossed into a hot bag of beignets. *Weed Garden* serves as an easy entry point for both Iron & Wine newbie and hardcore faithful.
Iron & Wine follow up their 2018 Grammy-nominated full-length 'Beast Epic' with 'Weed Garden', a collection of material that began about three years ago. The six-song EP features songs that were part of the writing phase for 'Beast Epic', but went unfinished. They were part of a larger narrative for principal songwriter Sam Beam, who ran out of time to get them where they needed to be for inclusion on 'Beast Epic'. 'Weed Garden' also includes the fan favorite “Waves of Galveston.” While on tour in the fall of 2017, the final pieces of material took shape and a sense of urgency prevailed in bringing these characters full circle. To resolution. To completion. In January of 2018, Beam and company hunkered down in Chicago at The Loft recording studio to capture these six songs. No more, no less. 'Weed Garden' joins the good company of previous Iron & Wine EP’s – 'The Sea & the Rhythm', 'Woman King', 'In the Reins' – and in 2018’s attention-span challenged world that's not a bad thing.
Although it’s neither as purposeful nor as prescient as many of his earlier EPs, Sam Beam’s latest release carries far more weight than its self-deprecating title implies.
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