Love Letter for Fire | ||||
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Studio album by Sam Beam and Jesca Hoop | ||||
Released | April 15, 2016 | |||
Studio | Flora Recording & Playback, Portland, Oregon | |||
Genre | Indie folk | |||
Length | 38:50 | |||
Label | Sub Pop | |||
Producer | Tucker Martine | |||
Iron & Wine chronology | ||||
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Jesca Hoop chronology | ||||
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Singles from Love Letter for Fire | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Aggregate scores | |
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 79/100 |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
The A.V. Club | B+ |
Consequence of Sound | B |
The Guardian | |
musicOMH | |
Paste | 7.9/10 |
Pitchfork | 7.5/10 |
PopMatters |
Love Letter for Fire is a collaborative album of duets by American singer-songwriter Sam Beam, commonly known as Iron & Wine, and American singer-songwriter Jesca Hoop, released on April 15, 2016 on Sub Pop.
Love Letter for Fire was recorded at Flora Recording & Playback in Portland, Oregon. The album features contributions from Wilco's Glenn Kotche, Rob Burger, Eyvind Kang, Sebastian Steinberg, and Edward Rankin-Parker. It was produced, recorded, and mixed by Tucker Martine. Iron & Wine and Jesca Hoop are touring North America in support of the album, starting in May 2016.
Love Letter for Fire received largely positive reviews from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 79, based on 17 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".
Emmanuel Elone of PopMatters praised the album, stating, "By playing on the strengths of both artists while minimizing any deficiencies each may have, Sam Beam and Jesca Hoop have mastered the collaborative album. Where Iron & Wine can sound a bit too sleepy, Hoop plays up her vocals or instrumentation to keep the music lively; if she begins to make her performance a bit too grandiose, Beam is there to keep her feet on level ground. As a whole, Love Letter for Fire is the sonic equivalent of sitting in front of a campfire on the starry night with a couple of close friends strumming their acoustic guitar; it’s bucolic, simple, and guaranteed to delight. So grab some hot chocolate, put on the most comfortable pair of sweatpants that you can find, and let Sam Beam and Jesca Hoop serenade you with their majestic voices. If that’s not magical, nothing is."