While Sam Beam and Co. have spent 3 years gearing up for the next Iron & Wine LP, Kiss Each Other Clean, it sounds as though they’ve altered their rather well-executed, whisper-folk formula a bit: “It’s more of a focused pop record,” Beam told Spin. “It sounds like the music people heard in their parent’s car growing up… that early-to-mid-’70s FM, radio-friendly music.”
Teaming up once again with the excellent Chicago producer Brian Deck, Beam brought in “live horns and synths” for the 10-track effort, which includes new songs “Walking Far From Home,” “Your Fake Name Is Good Enough For Me,” “Me and Lazarus,” and “Tree by the River.” We’ll have to wait until January 2011 to hear Iron & Wine’s new sound via their new label, Warner Bros., but in the meantime, enjoy two solo acoustic versions of Beam previewing “Half Moon” and “Mary Anne” in Charlottesville, Virginia in the spring: