Iron & Wine Hen’s Teeth

Indie-folk icon Sam Beam, recording as Iron & Wine, returns with Hen’s Teeth — his eighth full-length album and sixth for Sub Pop — presented here as the Initial LOSER Edition pressed on White Vinyl.

The title is classic Beam: poetic, curious and quietly symbolic. “Hen’s teeth” suggests something impossible, something that shouldn’t exist — and that’s exactly how this record felt to him. Written and recorded during the same fertile sessions that produced 2024’s Light Verse, Hen’s Teeth emerged after a year-long creative dry spell, capturing a renewed sense of spontaneity and artistic freedom.

While Light Verse shimmered with airy impressionism, Hen’s Teeth feels earthier and more tactile — darker in tone, richer in texture and grounded in organic instrumentation. Beam leans into genre exploration here, drawing inspiration from the loose, jazz-inflected folk of Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks, allowing songs to bloom naturally in the studio. The result is a collection that nods to folk tradition, chamber pop and subtle tropical influences, while remaining unmistakably Iron & Wine.

The album features a stellar cast of collaborators, including guitarist David Garza, bassist Sebastian Steinberg, keyboardist Tyler Chester and a trio of drummers — Griffin Goldsmith, Beth Goodfellow and Kyle Crane. String arrangements by Paul Cartwright add warmth and depth throughout. Indie-country trio I’m With Her appear on two standout tracks, bringing luminous harmonies to the vibrant “Robin’s Egg” and the tender “Wait Up.” Beam’s daughter Arden also contributes harmonies on several tracks, adding a personal, generational touch to the record.

Pressed on striking White Vinyl as part of Sub Pop’s coveted LOSER Edition series, Hen’s Teeth captures Iron & Wine at a point of renewed creative vitality — intimate yet expansive, reflective yet spontaneous. A richly textured chapter in Beam’s enduring catalogue.