Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean (Warner Bros.)
If, for some odd reason, you are checking back in on Sam Beam due to his higher major label profile and haven't paid attention since about, oh, 2003, this record might just come as a bit of a shock. The hushed and hauntingly intimate folk found on his debut record has largely vanished, replaced with a surprisingly playful approach to songwriting and a carefree frolic through multiple genres. In interviews Beam has cited the FM pop radio he used to hear in his mother's car while growing up and it's easy to see why, these songs wouldn't have sounded terribly out of place between Fleetwood Mac and an early Elton John piano ballad - not that either of those serve as specific signifiers for what is heard on Kiss Each Other Clean. But those fans who've followed Beam religiously (a fitting word for much of his recent lyrical content) over the past eight years, particularly through his non-album tracks and the Calexico collaboration, will be less surprised by the jazz and funk-laden diversions. Sure songs like "Godless Brother in Love" don't fall too far from the Creek Drank the Cradle tree, but the horn sections and involved arrangements shed an entirely new light on Beam's talents. And talented he certainly is, because nearly every one of these songs is a surefire winner, even as he drifts further and further away from the sound that made him famous. "Rabbit Will Run" and "Your Fake Name is Good Enough For Me" will perk up the ears of many a music fan, even those with little time for Beam's intimate confessionals of old. We knew he could break your heart wish an acoustic guitar and a whisper, but its equally exciting to know just how damn funky he can be when leading a full on band.
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