The American folk musician Sam Beam delivers, in an organic and finely carved manner, a plea for human warmth.
There are no hen’s teeth, and it is precisely for this reason that Sam Beam, also known as Iron & Wine, chose this expression for his new album, which came to life while he was recording his previous effort, Light Verse (2024, during which Fiona Apple’s voice delighted us), in Laurel Canyon, whose wooded backdrop constantly nourishes the guitarist’s creativity. Yet, the artist refused to constrain his compositions, citing Van Morrison’s baroque Astral Weeks (1968) on Singing Saw, or Nick Drake and Caetano Veloso on Defiance, Ohio.
Around him stands a sextet of instrumentalists devoted to a lush musical texture, yet not devoid of the sinuous groove that Beam is known for, who, on Wait Up and Robin’s Egg, align themselves with the harmonic work of vocalists Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan and Sara Watkins, from the trio I’m with Her.
In the corner of a room or in the vastness of the ocean
From the majestic opening Roses to the closing Half Measures, all these songs veiled in strings arranged by Paul Cartwright (whose finesse in approach is warmly noted) serve narratives that are often about love.
They summon human warmth in a world one would do well to escape at the first opportunity, to better celebrate what is no longer, or not quite enough, and then to search for it in the smallest corner of a room or in the vastness of the sea. No matter the hen’s teeth of poultry or the weight of reality, Hen’s Teeth offers us a new light. Fragile but persistent.
Hen’s Teeth (Sub Pop/Modulor). Release on February 27.
