Iron & Wine, the solo project of multi-instrumentalist and producer Sam Beam, released their eighth full-length album and sixth for Sub Pop, entitled Hen’s Teeth, worldwide on February 27th.
Hen’s Teeth arrives fully formed but sits as a sibling record, of sorts, to 2024’s acclaimed and Grammy-nominated Light Verse. Its seeds were sewn during the multiple sessions done over the last few years in the foothills of Los Angeles with studio owner/engineer Dave Way (Fiona Apple, Jakob Dylan, Sheryl Crow) at the helm. The record features many familiar names from the Iron & Wine universe – David Garza, Sebastian Steinberg, Tyler Chester, Griffin Goldsmith, Beth Goodfellow, Kyle Crane and Paul Cartwright – lending their talents to a collection of songs that while complimentary in nature had their own distinct feel.
Hen’s Teeth includes a few new fresh voices, the Grammy-winning Americana trio I’m With Her – Sarah Jarosz, Aiofe O’Donovan and Sara Watkins – are featured on two tracks. The trio bring their harmonizing prowess to the ebullient track, “Robin’s Egg,” and in the tender, mournful “Wait Up” they make more with less on a song that is sure to become a fan favorite. The record also marks the recording debut of Arden Beam. Arden (one of Beam’s daughters) contributes harmonies and backing vocals on “Roses,” “Singing Saw,” “Defiance, Ohio,” and “Grace Notes.” Her contributions lend a personal poignancy and a wonderful sonic texture to Hen’s Teeth.
The title Hen’s Teeth, much like the birth of this record, takes its inspiration as something that should not exist; a happy accident that fell out of enjoying the company of the aforementioned players in a setting that offered creativity and inspiration. As Beam states : “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.”
