Earbud Bards

As we slip out of seer-sucker and skirts and into corduroy and cable-knits, we also shrug off the sunshine-pop of summer and hit play on something more substantial. Maybe it's the shorter days, the crisper air or the falling leaves, but the autumn season lends itself to the poets and their accompanying introspection. And while I heart Heaney, adore Auden and revere Rilke, there can be just as much comfort between the chords of a boy's guitar as the landscaped lines of Cummings.

Iron & Wine's Sept. 25 release The Shepherd's Dog is more conducive to the brisker weather than hot apple cider — and equally as satisfying. While the solo acoustic strum and Sam Beam's whispery vocals on releases such The Creek Drank the Cradle and In the Reins may be more comparable to the winter wind whipping through barren branches, The Shepherd's Dog is lush and even colorful on some arrangements — the first single "Boy with a Coin," has a driving heartbeat while the Afro-pop "House by the Sea" is surprisingly danceable. Despite the shiny, more polished sound of the skin, Iron & Wine still stay true to their melancholy core. Beam's voice is still laced with its hauntingly nostalgic hue, while the structure of their songs is still supported by the minimalist, skeletal chords of the acoustic guitar. The masses were first exposed to the brilliant songwriting of the Florida native through the group's cover of The Postal Service's "Such Great Heights" featured on Zach Braff's mix-tape made public Garden State Soundtrack. On their third full-length release, Iron & Wine uses their ever-rising position as Indie idols to craft an album of note-perfect production without sacrificing the raw emotionality we have come to expect from Beam. "Carousel" veritably rips your ventricles apart while the waltz-like wandering melody of "Flightless Bird, American Mouth," will weave an irrevocable reverie. And even though some of the intimacy created by Beam's "one-guy in a bedroom" sound may be missing along with the scratchy lo-fi production value, The Shepherd's Dog languidly breezes into the living room, offering a record that breathes introspection and intricacy.

The turning leaves may also inspire personal transformation — unfortunately, change is not always a good thing. Tim Kasher of Cursive fame turned his side-project The Good Life into a veritable second career with the impressive 2004 release Album of the Year. A collection of remorseful romances, the follow-up to the Lovers Need Lawyers EP is epically earnest in its portrayal of past pain with simple arrangements and Kasher's ordinary vocals. It is this lack of adornment, however, that gives Album of the Year its truthfulness and subsequent charm. With its everyman lyrics and humble melody, the highlight track "Inmates," featuring guest vocalist Jiha Lee, is the quintessential walking-out-the-door anthem — that is, if you prefer to leave with a whimper instead of a bang. Sadly, in a misguided attempt to subscribe to the alt-country, folk vibe so prominent on the Saddle Creek label, Kasher takes the elementary approach too far. His Sept. 11 release, Help Wanted Nights, is not enlighteningly introspective in its simplicity, but unbearably boring. The record lacks an overall vision, and while Kasher's songwriting ability breaks through on such tracks as "Your Share of Men" and "Playing Dumb," The Good Life's fourth full-length release is ultimately more disappointing than all of Kasher's failed relationships combined.

So as you refurbish your wardrobe for the fall, don't forget to update your music collection — sincere songwriting will keep you warm in the evenings, and acoustic is always appropriate.