Iron & Wine- Hen's Teeth

Label: Sub Pop

Released 2/27/2026

Hen's Teeth and his previous album, Light Verse, are siblings of a sort. They were recorded during the same sessions after a year-long dry spell, with the same band, at Waystation studio in Laurel Canyon. "I'm at a point in my life where spontaneity is a lot more important to me. I'm a lot freer and I love making music more than ever. There are no right or wrong answers. You just pray for your luck and try your best." In this case prayers were answered and luck struck hard. The musicians cohered so quickly that they were often getting songs recorded in just a few takes, sometimes at the rate of two or three per day. The two albums might therefore be thought of as fraternal twins: they share DNA and complement each other, but are defined as much by their differences as their similarities. Light Verse (2024) took it's name from a form of poetry that makes heavy use of wordplay, humor, and nonsense. It's a sweet and airy album, impressionistic, at times even flirting with abstraction, a hearty shaking off of the doom and gloom of the Covid era. The world of Hen's Teeth is earthier, darker, more robust and more tactile than that of Light Verse. Hen's Teeth features David Garza on guitar, Sebastian Steinberg on bass, and Tyler Chester on keyboards. Griffin Goldsmith, Beth Goodfellow, and Kyle Crane all play drums. Paul Cartwright handled string arrangements, and plays violin and mandolin among others. The indie-country trio I'm With Her appears on the ebullient lead single, "Robin's Egg," and again on the tender, mournful "Wait Up." Beam's daughter Arden contributes harmonies and backing vocals on three tracks. Born two months before the release of his debut album, The Creek Drank the Cradle (2002), she is now 23 years old and a musician herself-the first of his children to appear on one of his records.

Track listing:

1. Roses
   
2. Paper and Stone
   
3. Robin's Egg (feat. I'm With Her)
   
4. Singing Saw
   
5. In Your Ocean
   
6. Defiance, Ohio
   
7. Wait Up (feat. I'm With Her)
   
8. Grace Notes
   
9. Dates and Dead People
   
10. Half Measures