beast epic. n. A long, usually allegorical verse narrative in which the characters are animals with human feelings and motives.
With its first album of new material in over four years, Iron & Wine is proud to announce the new album, Beast Epic. Of the album, Sam Beam states “I have been and always will be fascinated by the way time asserts itself on our bodies and our hearts. The ferris wheel keeps spinning and were constantly approaching, leaving or returning to something totally unexpected or startlingly familiar. The rite of passage is an image Ive returned to often because I feel were all constantly in some stage of transition. Beast Epic is saturated with this idea but in a different way simply because each time I return to the theme, Ive collected new experiences to draw from. Where the older songs painted a picture of youth moving wide-eyed into adulthoods violent pleasures and disappointments, this collection speaks to the beauty and pain of growing up after youve already grown up. For me, that experience has been more generous in its gifts and darker in its tragedies.”