Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean

As a dad of two lovely daughters I'm fascinated and weired out by Sam Beam of Iron & Wine. How can that dude grow such a strong beard, be only 36 years old and have a family of five (5!) daughters and a wife? At the same time he has released four albums, produced a flood of songs, a lot of EP's and been touring consistently since 2002? He has definitely earned his beard!

Sam Beam is back on the road with his new album Kiss Each Other Clean, his first album for Warner Bros. after leaving Sub Pop.

Since releasing The Creek Drank the Craddle - which were a stunning debut - in 2002 Sam Beam has taken Iron & Wine step-by-step away from the lo-fi, one-dude-in-a-bedroom, towards a broader sound with a larger cast of musicians. That goes for Kiss Each Other Clean.

On his 2007 album Sheperd's Dog he toyed around with African pop music and dub production. And this new stuff is even fuller and friskier than before. Almost funky?

I'm not sure how much I love this new path he is taking, but somehow it still sounds as if his not far from home. Home is of course the storytelling quality of his music. Check it out.

Interview with Sam Beam and producer Brian Deck - click.

You can listen to the entire new album (with a full backing band) below. Recorded for NPR’s “Music First Listen” series.


Sam Beam performs Tree By The River acoustic guitar