Iron and Wine: Kiss Each Other Clean Review

Artist: Iron and Wine
Album: Kiss Each Other Clean
Label: Warner Bros.

Where in the world is Sam Beam-Diego? Excuse the word-play, but when traveling back in time to the 2002 release of The Creek Drank the Cradle, the mystery presents itself. Born and raised in Chapin, South Carolina, Beam made his debut on Sub Pop records. The Seattle home-based label would then carry Beam onwards with two additional full-lengths and two EPs until January’s release, Kiss Each Other Clean, released via Warner Bros. It is safe to say that the days of old are long gone. With the help of world-wide notoriety and a few feature-film credits, Beam as the soloist, lonesome, and dusty troubadour introduced to us in the early 2000s has now taken flight to new destinations. Destinations far enough away that may leave some rusty constituents behind.

We saw this transition taking place with the 2005 release of Woman King, when Beam aptly exchanged his solitude and intimacy for full-bodied arrangements, canning innocence with mean percussion and vocal rhythms on attack instead of the hush embraces Beam established himself with.

The album opens with “Walking Far From Home”, an interesting choice amongst the 10 track list to begin with. Beam remains incredibly imaginative with his lyrics, depicting these highly metaphorical encounters, all of which tell their own little stories, but not too certain if they tell a story together. There are some golden lines, such as “I saw lovers in a window/ Whisper want me like time/ Want me like time.” “I saw sickness/ Bloom in fruit trees/ I saw blood and a bit of it was mine.”

“Me And Lazarus” takes a completely new direction, bringing the funk and some lovely harmonies. We are introduced to our first taste of extraordinary sax lines on the album. The sax lines punch out some major colors in this songs.

“Tree By the River,” reminisces about love at a young age. Beam, again lays down such strong imagery, “Dark canyon wall/ the call and the answer/ and the mare in the pasture/ pitch black and baring its teeth,” and “Radio and the bones we found frozen/ and all the thorns and the roses/ beneath your window pane.” Guitar twangs in solo, reminding us to thank our southern rock influences before we go to bed at night. This is some of Beam’s songwriting at its best on the album, taking us back rhythmically, to the Our Endless Numbered Days era, where strong poetry can follow steadfast rhythms.

Beam challenges us with the obscure, “Monkeys Uptown.” Testing the waters with synth-beats. “Rabbit Will Run,” is driven by very exotic influences with flute and marimba arrangements. Beam may be channeling Eno and David Byrne collaborations here, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts comes to mind, or even a descent into South African Mbaqanga. Much of where Beam is going on this album reminds me of Paul Simon’s Graceland, released by Warner Bros. (coincidence?) in ’86. Artists escaping one’s culture of song to visit another, seems to be one in many archetypal characterizations of singer/songwriters.

On “Big Burned Hand,” Beam is evidently trying to breach into funk with a big brassy sound. The question is not whether this move is out character for Beam, but if he was successful in doing so.

“Your Fake Name is Good Enough For Me” is the summation of all Beam’s efforts packaged into one final conclusion. The mark of Iron & Wine’s growth and direction lies in the final track, making Beam’s decisions and choices clear. Closing the album on this note makes me want to jump back to the beginning and re-absorb, now that I feel like there is pathos to Beam’s composition and that these new rhythms are integral and not appropriated for lack of inspiration. Sheer excitement for what may follow.

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Written by Casey Morris

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