{"title":"Iron and Wine","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"kiss-each-other-clean","title":"Kiss Each Other Clean","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eKiss Each Other Clean\u003c\/i\u003e, Iron and Wine’s fourth full-length record, was originally released in 2011 and came three years after his biggest selling record up to that point, \u003ci\u003eThe Shepherd’s\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eDog\u003c\/i\u003e. The bands two earlier albums had been sparse, intimate solo affairs that offered no hint of the direction he would take with records three and four. Like \u003ci\u003eThe Shepherd’s Dog\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eKiss Each Other Clean\u003c\/i\u003e is layered with textures, poly-rhythmic sounds and a more is more approach.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe album's 10 tracks were recorded in Chicago and Beam's hometown of Austin and produced by Brian Deck and sounds like the music people heard in their parent's car growing up. clarinet and saxophone on the album comes courtesy of Dave Sitek collaborator Stuart Bogie. Beam has also experimented with other genres on the record as well as classic AOR. There are straight-up jazz, blues, and african elements.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Black Cricket Recording Co","offers":[{"title":"Pink LP","offer_id":50410219897163,"sku":"2215711","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50410219372875,"sku":"334377","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50410219536715,"sku":"334376","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Kiss_Each_Other_Clean_244a5c17_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726640593"},{"product_id":"archive-series-volume-no-1","title":"Archive Series - Volume No 1","description":"\u003cp\u003e16 previously unreleased early home recordings. Iron And Wine's five full length albums have sold over 1 million copies to date. First in a series, Sam Beam will be gathering otherwise unreleased home recordings, covers, live sets and curiosities from his entire career as Iron And Wine and releasing them on his own Black Cricket Recording Co. label. This first release taps into a set of songs created before Sam was Iron And Wine. These 16 songs came to life at the same time as those selected for Iron And Wine's debut album 'The Creek Drank The Cradle' (Sub Pop, 2002). Performed and recorded at home on a 4-track cassette. Digitally transferred from the original cassettes and packaged in gatefold artwork featuring the 'Bird Of Paradise Quilt Top' (licensed from the American Folk Art Museum). LP - Double LP includes a digital download coupon.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"No Label","offers":[{"title":"LP | x2","offer_id":50412987515211,"sku":"385346","price":23.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50412985450827,"sku":"385345","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/2b5958b9-a877-4ea5-bc77-f87525c078e4_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726670199"},{"product_id":"ghost-on-ghost","title":"Ghost on Ghost","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eGhost On Ghost\u003c\/i\u003e is the fifth studio album from Iron and Wine. The last chapter in Sam Beam's evolution is a work of immense beauty and scale. On this album Sam Beam comes backed by an array of musicians from members of Dylan's band and the Jazz Messengers. \u003ci\u003eGhost On Ghost\u003c\/i\u003e insinuates itself into the listener's consciousness like a film - one that demands to be watched over and over.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe album found Sam Beam, the band’s principle member, working once again with longtime associate Brian Deck (Modest Mouse, Califone). The record marks the last time the two would work together on a journey that began with the bands second record, \u003ci\u003eEndless Numbered Days\u003c\/i\u003e. It also marked a shift for the two from working in Chicago to setting up in New York City. The idea behind the move was to tap into the creative musical community New York had to offer.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Black Cricket Recording Co","offers":[{"title":"Light Blue LP","offer_id":50427075920203,"sku":"2215713","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50427075297611,"sku":"361205","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Ghost_on_Ghost_7655f8da_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726821336"},{"product_id":"the-creek-drank-the-cradle","title":"The Creek Drank The Cradle","description":"\u003cp\u003eIron and Wine's debut record, \u003ci\u003eThe Creek Drank the Cradle\u003c\/i\u003e, is written, produced, and performed by Sam Beam and features only Beam's voice, a gently strummed acoustic guitar, some slide guitar, and the occasional banjo. Iron and Wine creates intimate and emotional songs, recorded bedroom-style but never letting the lo-fi get in the way of the tune. Beam isn't interested in rocking out or obscuring the beauty that bursts from within his simple songs; he embraces it and lets his sadness twist in the wind for all to see. Besides, his vocal harmonies are more soft rock than punk rock. \u003ci\u003eLion's Mane\u003c\/i\u003e opens the record and immediately takes your breath away as Beam's voice is so beautiful and his hooks are razor sharp. \u003ci\u003eThe Creek Drank the Cradle\u003c\/i\u003e is a stunning debut and one of the best records of 2002. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sub Pop","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":50447914795339,"sku":"262216","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/a01181f2-44b5-41aa-ba8f-5ff3f4627984_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727084036"},{"product_id":"who-can-see-forever-soundtrack","title":"Who Can See Forever Soundtrack","description":"\u003cp\u003eIron and Wine’s \u003ci\u003eWho Can See Forever \u003c\/i\u003eis an accompanying live record to the film of the same name. Captured at Haw River Ballroom in Saxapahaw, North Carolina, the soundtrack features nineteen songs from the twenty plus year career of singer-songwriter Sam Beam. Having found inventive ways to re-invent his catalog live over the years, \u003ci\u003eWho Can See Forever\u003c\/i\u003e offers new and fresh versions of Iron and Wine songs including “The Trapeze Swinger”, “Boy With a Coin” and “Naked As We Came.” The film - initially intended as a live concert film - evolved into a visual portrait capturing Beam during a creative outburst that earned him four Grammy nominations in four years. Like his music, the film touches on universally personal themes as Beam juggles being an artist, husband and father. Taken as one, the soundtrack and film are a fascinating first-time glimpse behind-the-scenes of Iron and Wine.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sub Pop","offers":[{"title":"Yellow LP","offer_id":50447934456139,"sku":"2056750","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50447933866315,"sku":"2056749","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/IronandWine_WCSF_1500px_8c9c93a2_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727084274"},{"product_id":"our-endless-numbered-days-deluxe","title":"Our Endless Numbered Days (Deluxe)","description":"\u003cp\u003eSam Beam, aka Iron and Wine, released \u003ci\u003eOur Endless Numbered Days\u003c\/i\u003e, his second in March of 2004. It followed his hushed, literate, intimate, melodic, 2002 debut album, \u003ci\u003eThe Creek Drank the Cradle\u003c\/i\u003e, a quiet treasure which, with its unaffected candor and depth, found fans all over. \u003ci\u003eOur Endless Numbered Days\u003c\/i\u003e was recorded both at Sam’s Miami home and in Chicago’s Engine Studios with Brian Deck (Red Red Meat, Modest Mouse, Ugly Casanova, etc.) On it, Sam is aided and abetted by his then touring and recording conspirators: his sister Sarah Beam, Patrick McKinney, Jeff McGriff, EJ Holowicki, and Jonathon Bradley. Listening to \u003ci\u003eOur Endless Numbered Days\u003c\/i\u003e makes plain Sam’s deft touch with words and melody; one that allows him to turn out stories about love, loss, faith, or the lack of it that are at once personal and universal, set to music that is sweetly haunting and timeless. \u003ci\u003eOur Endless Numbered Days\u003c\/i\u003e is the first Iron and Wine album to be recorded in a professional studio, and it has sold over 460,000 copies (556,000+ including streaming) as of December, 2018. This reissue features the original album, plus eight previously unreleased demo versions and a 12-page booklet with an essay about the album by Amanda Petrusich.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e2LP - Double Black Vinyl with Download.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e2LP+ - Limited Double Loser Dark Green Opaque Vinyl with Download.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sub Pop","offers":[{"title":"LP | x2","offer_id":50447978561867,"sku":"1055900","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50447978201419,"sku":"1055897","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50447980495179,"sku":"1055899","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/932ac32e-f20f-4032-b912-f66755324a10_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727084815"},{"product_id":"woman-king","title":"Woman King","description":"\u003cp\u003esam beam is sure to be one of 2005's biggest stars. this new 6 tracker is a further development of sam unique approach to songcraft. recorded with brian deck the iron and wine palette is broadened with extra percussion, piano, violin, electric guitar etc, the songs are some of his best yet, vibrant poetic, gently forceful and personal. a magnificent ep. on sub pop\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sub Pop","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50448066314571,"sku":"254531","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50448068968779,"sku":"254553","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/f0001db0-b137-42db-b32d-3ea13b12e6a2_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727085899"},{"product_id":"our-endless-numbered-days","title":"Our Endless Numbered Days","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eOur Endless Numbered Days\u003c\/i\u003e is the second album from the much loved Iron and Wine. It is a cleaner, more diverse, and generally sparser than its predecessor, yet still an astoundingly progressive record. The pert guitar picking and frictionless steel are a perfect backing for Sam's stories of love, loss and faith. a haunting and timeless album. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sub Pop","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":50448072737099,"sku":"188961","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Tape","offer_id":50448072474955,"sku":"1014791","price":6.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50448073032011,"sku":"188960","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/460f749a-8c23-4d54-b42f-8f04a52d3328_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727085973"},{"product_id":"around-the-well","title":"Around The Well","description":"\u003cp\u003ecollecting songs ranging from out-of-print to never-before-released, around the well spans iron and wine's earliest sessions which yielded the band's debut (2002's 'the creek drank the cradle') through material recorded for 2007's 'the shepherd's dog'. the double-disc 'around the well' collection is broken up into two sections. the first half is an assortment of hushed home recordings, unedited and raw, and the second highlights moments captured in the confines of proper studios with the help of other musicians, friends and engineers. the album's title comes from a line in the song 'the trapeze swinger,' a fan favourite which was written for and included in the movie 'in good company'. three more songs written and recorded for the film finally make their appearance here as well: 'belated promise ring,' 'god made the automobile' and 'homeward, these shoes.' 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A\u003cbr\u003ecollection of songs recorded three years prior to his official Sub Pop debut,\u003ci\u003e The Creek Drank the\u003cbr\u003eCradle \u003c\/i\u003e(2002). A period before the concept of Iron and Wine existed and principal songwriter Sam\u003cbr\u003eBeam was studying at Florida State University with the intent of pursuing a career in film.\u003cbr\u003eTallahassee documents the very first steps on a journey that would lead to a career as one of\u003cbr\u003eAmerica’s most original and distinctive singer-songwriters. \u003ci\u003eCreek\u003c\/i\u003e arrived like a thief in the night\u003cbr\u003ewith its lo-fi, hushed vocals and intimate nature, while almost inversely \u003ci\u003eTallahassee\u003c\/i\u003e comes with a\u003cbr\u003estrange sense of confidence. Perhaps an almost youthful discretion that likely comes from being\u003cbr\u003etoo young to know better and too naïve to give a shit. 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Two of those folks were\u003cbr\u003eJonathan Poneman from Sub Pop and journalist Mike McGonigal, who included it on his best\u003cbr\u003esongs of 2001 mix cd, passed out to friends and acquaintances. And for many that is where the\u003cbr\u003eIron and Wine story begins, until now…\u003ci\u003eTallahassee\u003c\/i\u003e is the foreword to your favorite book that you’ve\u003cbr\u003esomehow skipped over time and time again. It’s an alternative history mixed with some revisionist\u003cbr\u003ehistory told over the course of eleven songs. 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In its place was a domesticity that the singer hadn’t felt in a long time, and although it was filled with many rewards, making music was not one of them. Reflecting on that time, Beam notes:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I feel blessed and grateful that I and most of my friends and family made it through the pandemic relatively unscathed compared to so many others, but it completely paralyzed the songwriter in me. The last thing I wanted to write about was COVID, and yet every moment I sat with my pen, it lingered around the edges and wouldn’t leave. This lasted for over two years.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe journey back began with a recording session in Memphis to record a handful of Lori McKenna tracks for the EP \u003ci\u003eLori\u003c\/i\u003e with friend and producer Matt Ross-Spang. The cathartic experience reconnected Beam with his love for making music, and soon enough the paralysis had passed, and he was finishing lyrics and booking studio time for what would become \u003ci\u003eLight Verse.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLight Verse\u003c\/i\u003e was recorded with engineer and mixer Dave Way at his studio Waystation high up in Laurel Canyon (with an additional session at Silent Zoo Studio with a 24-piece orchestra), with a host of talented musicians joining Beam: Tyler Chester, Sebastian Steinberg, David Garza, Griffin Goldsmith, Beth Goodfellow, Kyle Crane, and Paul Cartwright. And, Fiona Apple joined Beam on vocals for the duet “All In Good Time.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBeam lyrically once again takes focus on a series of both fictional and personal insights, filled with desperate characters and wide-eyed optimists, offering promise and a dose of heartache, tears and laughter, life and love. Taking stock in the album’s title, he jokes, “Light verse is a form of poetry about playful themes that often uses nonsense and wordplay, and it’s my first official Iron \u0026amp; Wine comedy album!…. Just kidding….”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile true this may be Iron and Wine’s most playful record, Beam says the title mostly reflects the way the songs were born with joy after the heaviness and anxiety of the pandemic. Where recent records like \u003ci\u003eBeast Epic\u003c\/i\u003e or \u003ci\u003eWeed Garden\u003c\/i\u003e gave air to the disquiet of middle-aged frailty and brokenness, these songs trade that for the focus acceptance can bring. Moment by moment, they delight in being pointed or silly (or both) and attempt beauty over prettiness.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eLight Verse\u003c\/i\u003e is Iron and Wine’s seventh full-length overall and fifth for Sub Pop Records. Fashioned as an album that should be taken as a whole, it sounds lovingly handmade and self-assured as a secret handshake. 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No more, no less. \u003ci\u003eWeed Garden\u003c\/i\u003e joins the good company of previous Iron and Wine EP’s – \u003ci\u003eThe Sea and Rhythm, Woman King, In the Reins\u003c\/i\u003e – and in 2018’s attention-span challenged world that's not a bad thing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLP - Black Vinyl.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLP+ - Limited Loser Opaque Orange Vinyl.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sub Pop","offers":[{"title":"LP.","offer_id":50448419062091,"sku":"1042305","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50448418373963,"sku":"1042303","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50448421093707,"sku":"1042304","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/54cd57fc-c8c9-4b24-8e4a-c62338f327e9_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727091592"},{"product_id":"beast-epic","title":"Beast Epic","description":"\u003cp\u003eDescription \/ Artist Statement\u003cbr\u003eI must confess that I’ve always shied away from album introductions citing the usual \"dancing to architecture\" cop out. Speaking to their own work is uncomfortable for many artists, but I’ve made a new album called \u003ci\u003eBeast Epic\u003c\/i\u003e which is important to me and I wanted to take a moment to talk about why. I’ve been releasing music for about fifteen years now and I feel very blessed to have put out five other full lengths, many EPs and singles, a few collaborations with people much more talented than myself, and made contributions to numerous movie scores and soundtracks. This is my sixth collection of new Iron and Wine material and I’m happy to say that it’s my fourth for Sub Pop Records. It’s a warm and serendipitous time to be reuniting with my Seattle friends because I feel there’s a certain kinship between this new collection of songs and my earliest material, which Sub Pop was kind enough to release. In hindsight, both \u003ci\u003eThe Creek Drank the Cradle\u003c\/i\u003e (2002) and \u003ci\u003eOur Endless Numbered Days\u003c\/i\u003e (2004) epitomize a reflective and confessional songwriting style (although done with my own ferocious commitment to understatement, of course.) I have been and always will be fascinated by the way time asserts itself on our bodies and our hearts. The ferris wheel keeps spinning and we’re constantly approaching, leaving or returning to something totally unexpected or startlingly familiar. The rite of passage is an image I've returned to often because I feel we’re all constantly in some stage of transition. \u003ci\u003eBeast Epic \u003c\/i\u003eis saturated with this idea but in a different way simply because each time I return to the theme I’ve collected new experiences to draw from. Where the older songs painted a picture of youth moving wide-eyed into adulthood’s violent pleasures and disappointments, this collection speaks to the beauty and pain of growing up after you’ve already grown up. For me, that experience has been more generous in its gifts and darker in its tragedies. The sound of \u003ci\u003eBeast Epic\u003c\/i\u003e harks back to previous work, in a way, as well. By employing the old discipline of recording everything live and doing minimal overdubbing, I feel like it wears both its achievements and its imperfections on its sleeve. Over the years, I’ve enjoyed experimenting with different genres, sonics and songwriting styles and all that traveled distance is evident in the feel and the arrangements here, but the muscles seemed to have relaxed and been allowed to effortlessly do what they do best. I’ve been fortunate to get to play with some very talented musicians over the years who are both uniquely intuitive and also expressive in exciting ways. This group was no different. We spent about two weeks recording and mixing but mostly laughing at The Loft in Chicago. To be honest, I’ve named this record \u003ci\u003eBEAST EPIC\u003c\/i\u003e mostly because it sounds really fucking cool! However, with that said and perhaps to be completely honest, “a story where animals talk and act like people” sounds like the perfect description for the life of any of us. If not that, then it’s at least perfect for any group of songs I’ve ever tried to make. I hope you enjoy it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLP - Black Vinyl with Download.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e2LP - Deluxe edition is 2xLP housed in a Gatefold tip-on sleeve, with a booklet and the 2nd LP is one sided and features Five bonus cuts and demos. The flip side to the bonus disc is etched! Initial run comes on Red and Blue Vinyl.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sub Pop","offers":[{"title":"LP | x2","offer_id":50448467001675,"sku":"1012746","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Tape","offer_id":50448467657035,"sku":"1012747","price":6.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50448466510155,"sku":"1012745","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50448468443467,"sku":"1012744","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/5c336986-0195-4ef0-bf49-dc1236905ff9_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727092153"},{"product_id":"the-creek-drank-the-cradle-1","title":"The Creek Drank The Cradle","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIron and Wine's debut record, The Creek Drank the Cradle, is written, produced, and performed by Sam Beam and features only Beam's voice, a gently strummed acoustic guitar, some slide guitar, and the occasional banjo. Iron and Wine creates intimate and emotional songs, recorded bedroom-style but never letting the lo-fi get in the way of the tune. The Creek Drank the Cradle is a stunning debut and one of the best records of 2002. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sub Pop","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50448614424907,"sku":"158298","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/e3584b86-4d47-44fa-a3dd-ac7af389fc94_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727093903"},{"product_id":"the-shepherd-s-dog","title":"The Shepherd's Dog","description":"\u003cp\u003eFollowing a one-record hiatus to collaborate with Tucson collective Calexico on 2005's \u003ci\u003eIn The Reins\u003c\/i\u003e, Iron and Wine (Sam Beam, that is) recoils to the earnestness and intimacy that embodied his first two records, his cerebral words and phrases tunneled beneath an orchestra of guitar, banjo, keyboards, and strings. More definitive than ever, the rhythm and percussion complement Beam's voice, a lulling, almost eerie tone that occasionally recalls John Lennon's early solo work, especially on delicate tracks like the bluesy \u003ci\u003eWolves (Songs of the Shepherd's Dog\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eCarousel\u003c\/i\u003e, with its veiled references to Iraq. Those raised on the lo-fi routine of Beam's earlier work will find rawness and sanctity in the more upbeat selections: The Crosby, Stills and Nash folk-rock of \u003ci\u003eHouse by the Sea\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eBoy with a Coin\u003c\/i\u003e and the atmospheric beauty of \u003ci\u003ePagan Angel and a Borrowed Car \u003c\/i\u003eand Shepherd's best song, \u003ci\u003eLovesong of the Buzzard\u003c\/i\u003e. With an organ swirling about and a slide guitar adding gentle flourishes, Beam concedes that \"no one is the savior they would like to be,\" without realizing that, when it comes to fluent music and pristine storytelling, perhaps he is.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sub Pop","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50450465620299,"sku":"405394","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/504ef84c-3edd-4243-a7ca-5571117349c0_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727112212"},{"product_id":"hens-teeth","title":"Hen's Teeth","description":"\u003cp\u003e“I’ve always wanted to use that title,” Sam Beam says of \u003cem\u003eHen’s Teeth\u003c\/em\u003e, his eighth full-length album and his sixth for Sub Pop Records. “I just love it. To me it suggests the impossible. Hen’s teeth do not exist. And that’s what this record felt like: a gift that shouldn’t be there but it is. An impossible thing but it’s real.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eHen’s Teeth\u003c\/em\u003e and his previous album, Light Verse, are siblings of a sort. They were recorded during the same sessions after a year-long dry spell, with the same band, at Waystation studio in Laurel Canyon. “When I’ve been on a writing kick, and the band can meet me where I’m at, they push me into something I hadn’t imagined. I’m at a point in my life where spontaneity is a lot more important to me. I don’t have as much to prove as I used to. I’m a lot freer and I love making music more than ever. There are no right or wrong answers. You just pray for your luck and try your best.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn this case prayers were answered and luck struck hard. The musicians cohered so quickly and inspired each other so much that they were often getting songs recorded in just a few takes, sometimes at the rate of two or three per day. The two albums might therefore be thought of as fraternal twins: they share DNA and complement each other but have distinct identities and are defined as much by their differences as their similarities.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eLight Verse\u003c\/em\u003e (2024) took its name from a form of poetry that makes heavy use of wordplay, humor, and nonsense. Its cover depicts figures in silhouette, floating or falling through a cyanotype sky. It’s a sweet and airy album, impressionistic, at times even flirting with abstraction, a hearty shaking off of the doom and gloom of the Covid era. Many of the songs are named for ideas or feelings that gesture toward hope amidst uncertainty: “You Never Know,” “All in Good Time” (a gorgeous duet with Fiona Apple), “Cutting It Close,” “Taken by Surprise.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe world of \u003cem\u003eHen’s Teeth\u003c\/em\u003e is earthier, darker, more robust and more tactile than that of Light Verse. The songs have titles like “Roses,” “Robin’s Egg,” “Dates and Dead People,” “Singing Saw.” “Run into the one you love forever \/ Laugh into each other’s empty mouth,” Beam sings on “Roses,” the album’s first track. It’s one of several songs in which lovers are depicted as so deeply entwined they physically merge. “Paper and Stone” recalls that “But for the time we fell in two \/ You’d be me and I’d be you \/ One crust of bread could fit in our mouths \/ You’d breathe in and I’d let it out.” And on “In Your Ocean,” we find Beam “Praying for dry ground \/ Though I only want to drown \/ When I find myself swimming in your ocean.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe cover is a portrait of Beam surrounded on all sides by flourishing ferns and other tropical plant life. He is wearing a pin-stripe jacket and holding a massive cluster of grapes, prodigious beard spilling down his chest. He could be a local harvest god or a gentleman outlaw holed up in a jungle cave. There are white feathers covering his eyes but these somehow do not suggest blindness. Rather they seem to literalize the poetic notion of an artist’s vision taking flight. The whole surreal scene is washed in humid, spooky red. It’s somewhere between Leonora Carrington and Frida Kahlo, and the contrast with the cool blue-white palette of Light Verse could not be starker.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“The experiments in this one were more with genre than with form. For the last couple years one of my go-to’s has been Van Morrisson’s \u003cem\u003eAstral Weeks\u003c\/em\u003e, that style where jazz musicians play folk music and it blossoms in different ways than folk musicians are normally interested in doing. ‘Singing Saw’ feels like a song that Dock Boggs and Simon \u0026amp; Garfunkel might have done together. ‘Roses’ and ‘In Your Ocean’ are straight forward folk rock, but they build to these apocalyptic endings. ‘Dates and Dead People’ and ‘Defiance, Ohio’ take a lot from Tropicalia, which is some of my favorite music too. I don’t see it as that much different from jazz. All these forms have been in rock music forever.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAbout the players: David Garza on guitar, Sebastian Steinberg on bass, and Tyler Chester on keyboards. Griffin Goldsmith, Beth Goodfellow, and Kyle Crane all play drums. Paul Cartwright plays violin and mandolin among other stringed instruments; he also handled string arrangements for both records. The indie-country trio I’m With Her appears on the ebullient lead single, “Robin’s Egg,” and again on the tender, mournful “Wait Up.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“I’m obsessed with duets,” Beam says. “Ever since I did Love Letter to Fire with Jesca Hoop. I just love the form. It’s inherently dramatic. And it’s so fun. I had these songs and I finished them with I’m With Her in mind.” Arden Beam—Beam’s daughter—contributes harmonies and backing vocals onthe tracks, “Roses,” “Singing Saw,” “Defiance, Ohio” and “Grace Notes.” Her contributions lend a personal poignancy, as well as a wonderful sonic texture, to \u003cem\u003eHen’s Teeth\u003c\/em\u003e. Born two months before the release of his debut album, \u003cem\u003eThe Creek Drank the Cradle\u003c\/em\u003e (2002), she is now 23 years old and a musician herself—the first of his children to appear on one of his records.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“It’s exciting, making it more of a family affair. I like making Iron and Wine records, but I like the collaboration even more. Interacting with a bunch of friends and being blown away by what they can bring, musically and emotionally, to a set of three chords. I get to play all day with these people I love and they respond by giving me their most vulnerable, expressive self. It’s the weirdest, best job ever.”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sub Pop","offers":[{"title":"LP - Oxblood (UK)","offer_id":56231330906443,"sku":"R3441-2957","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":56231330939211,"sku":"R3441-2591","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP - Transparent White (US)","offer_id":56236201705803,"sku":"R3441-7371","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/IronAndWine_HensTeeth_Cover_1500x1500_452fa167-b272-4edc-80f7-fd696b9cc871.jpg?v=1767617464"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/fr\/collections\/iron-and-wine.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}