You get a sense that you're listening to two old friends with this inspired collection of covers. Sing Into My Mouth gets its name from Talking Heads' "This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)," a song that Iron & Wine's Sam Beam and Ben Birdwell of Band Of Horses expertly reinterpret. Presumably born of the duo's cover of that rumination on marriage and domestic life, this album offers up southern folksy takes on a number of unsuspecting rock and pop songs. Backed by members of Califone and Calexico, the recordings are full of slide guitar and gently rolling rhythms. Both Beam and Birdwell contribute vocal takes that are beyond some of their most recent work. Their cover of soul obscurity "Am I a Good Man?" from Numero Group's Eccentric Soul series is particularly inspiring. Other songs include Sade's "Bullet Proof Soul," Ronnie Lane's "Done This One Before," John Cale's "You Know Me More Than I Know" and Spiritualized's "The Straight And Narrow."

• music label: Black Cricket Recording Co. 2015

reviewed by steely mare 07/2015