[rating=6.00]
For some of 2016’s loveliest listens, look no further than Love Letter for Fire, the special new record from Jesca Hoop and Iron and Wine’s Sam Beam. The duo got together in all their hipster twee glory and created thirteen soft-focus, dazzling duets, complete with rich string accents and earthy acoustic guitar. Love Letter for Fire is folksy for sure, but even with slight predictability, the result is sweetly moving.
Hoop’s subtle, sultry vocals are the standout here, and with Beam’s harmonizing, her sound becomes more dimensional. Beam is as gentle and quiet as ever, often barely raising his voice above a whisper, giving the songs on Love Letter for Fire a delicate, lacy quality. There’s nothing too fancy happening here, but it works, and the beauty is in the simplicity. The quirks lie in the instrumental arrangements; “Every Songbird Says” has an exotic sound to it, and transports you somewhere far, far away. And “Midas Tongue” focuses on the vocal harmonies, with just a pared down percussion beat in the background, giving it an almost a capella sound, especially when the two play with the sound of just their breath as an added layer.
Most of the songs on Love Letter for Fire are, as can be expected, love songs. And with their borderline period era clothing and hairdos, Beam and Hoop are a match made in indie folk heaven. Even their names pair nicely together. On one of the album’s prettiest standouts, “One Way to Pray”, they have a little more fun with their vocals as opposed to the traditional harmonies that make up most of the other songs. They sing in overlapping rounds, so you can hear the sweetness in each of their voices, and each sounds distinct. This is the track you’ll play in heavy rotation. Its stunning melody is addictive.
“We Two Are a Moon” is another tune that hightlights both Beam and Hoop together and apart, as is “Soft Play to Land”. Both are swooning, dreamy songs, and both seem tailor made for laying in a field of wildflowers feeling a soft breeze at twilight.
For more of a stretch than what we’re used to from these two, turn to the otherworldly fantasy of “Chalk it Up to Chi”. You’ll hear everything from Hoop belting out her verses, to bits of spoken word, to Beam’s dramatic whispers. This is one of the record’s more out-there, theatrical tunes and its weirdness stands out from the warm safety of the rest of Love Letter for Fire.
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