Iron & Wine is set to release new album 'Beast Epic' on August 25th.
Sam Beam returns to solo duties after four years, with 'Beast Epic' set to be released on Seattle hub Sub Pop.
Recorded and engineered by Tom Schick at the Loft, the stripped down sound uses minimal overdubs and a handful of guests.
Iron & Wine has issued a full statement about the record, explaining: "I have been and always will be fascinated by the way time asserts itself on our bodies and our hearts. The ferris wheel keeps spinning and we’re constantly approaching, leaving or returning to something totally unexpected or startlingly familiar. The rite of passage is an image I've returned to often because I feel we’re all constantly in some stage of transition. 'Beast Epic' is saturated with this idea but in a different way simply because each time I return to the theme I’ve collected new experiences to draw from."
"Where the older songs painted a picture of youth moving wide-eyed into adulthood’s violent pleasures and disappointments, this collection speaks to the beauty and pain of growing up after you’ve already grown up. For me, that experience has been more generous in its gifts and darker in its tragedies."
Sam Beam continues: "The sound of 'Beast Epic' harks back to previous work, in a way, as well. By employing the old discipline of recording everything live and doing minimal overdubbing, I feel like it wears both its achievements and its imperfections on its sleeve. Over the years, I’ve enjoyed experimenting with different genres, sonics and songwriting styles and all that travelled distance is evident in the feel and the arrangements here, but the muscles seemed to have relaxed and been allowed to effortlessly do what they do best."
New cut 'Call It Dreaming' is online now, and you can check it out below.
Tracklisting:
1. Claim Your Ghost
2. Thomas County Law
3. Bitter Truth
4. Song in Stone
5. Summer Clouds
6. Call It Dreaming
7. About A Bruise
8. Last Night
9. Right for Sky
10. The Truest Stars We Know
11. Our Light Miles
