IRON & WINE
Hen’s Teeth (Sub Pop)
If you’ve not heard any of Sam Beam’s eight full-length albums as Iron & Wine, then it’s about time you fixed that with Hen’s Teeth. Beam has defined 21st-century Americana from the log cabin acoustic reveries of his 2002 debut album, going on to expand his sound and band exponentially.
Last year’s Light Verse album and this followup are close cousins, with the musicians sat right in a fertile groove during recording sessions – applying a loose jazzy grip to a cosy melange of folk, rock and country. Beam’s 23-year-old daughter, Arden, contributes poignant harmonies and backing vocals on several songs, with Singing Saw being the pick of the bunch and Defiance, Ohio a sweet tropicalia-tinged tune replete with whistling and strings. I’m With Her duet with Beam on Robin’s Egg and Wait Up.
Rivers of poetry course through the lyrics, with Grace Notes (“Forever was a word like a name in a sidewalk … live like I’m digging just for filling in a hole”) rejoicing in living in the moment and being thankful for small mercies – a rare joy for us all.
words CHRIS SEAL
