Iron & Wine — Kiss Each Other Clean (2011)

You have to respect Sam Beam's ability to keep re-creating his sound and yet always keep it his. From the iconic home-made beginnings through numerous albums, experimental EPs, collaborations, covers, and beyond, Iron & Wine sounds like Iron & Wine. Given the spare effectiveness of that debut, and the apparently not-too-distant sojourn of Our Endless Numbered Days, you might certainly have expected his sound to stagnate. But since at least 2005 (and further back, if you really listen), Beam has been systematically expanding his scope. While each new release has covered wholly new ground, though, they have maintained a certain distinctive sound, and have been consistently compelling. Not so this time.

Kiss Each Other Clean does explore new ground, while simultaneously maintaining the Iron & Wine throughline. It is not, however, a compelling listen. The songs are good enough—accessible without being saccharine, complex without getting caught up in their own structure, diverse without falling away from each other. But none are great. What they don't do is last. Beam's music has always been gripping. You couldn't help but get caught up in songs like "Upward Over the Mountain", "Each Coming Night", "Jezebel", and "Resurrection Fern". They absorb you as you listen, and linger long after their sounds have gone. Nor was it ever limited to such slow, simple songs—"Freedom Hangs like Heaven" and "History of Lovers" are equally powerful. There is no equivalent on Kiss Each Other Clean. These are songs worth listening to, but hardly worth remembering. Even the best, "Walking Far from Home", begins to fade from memory before it has even ended. "Boy with a Coin", sadly, this is not. A few of the songs do improve a bit with repeated listens, which is fine. Others, however, do not. And none ever seem to rise far above the mean.

I'm inclined to chalk this all up to indulgence. Beam is playing with a lot of sounds, structures, and effects here, "experimenting" in the way that high-schoolers do with sex & drugs. But like most such partakers, he can get carried away, and it does distract attention from more significant pursuits. I'm hopeful that he'll come through it all right and find his way back to what he does so well. It's not his best album, but I don't think it's the end of anything. Sam Beam has a lot more to give, and I'll be anticipating the next album just as eagerly as if this one hadn't happened.