'Kiss Each Other Clean' buried underneath fuzz, jam

As “The Shepherd’s Dog” has shown us, the lines between folk, jam and jazz can be interesting boundaries to blur. The latest Iron & Wine release, “Kiss Each Other Clean,” continues in the direction of the prior album by adding layers and textures to Sam Beam’s matchless songwriting but often ends up overshooting the mark into superfluity.

“Kiss Each Other Clean” is much more electronic than anything Beam has previously released and bears the marks of festival exposure, too. Reminiscent of Dave Matthews Band or String Cheese Incident improvisations, synthesizers and saxophones permeate much of the album, while bitcrushed-bleeps and wah-pedals fill entire songs, burying the beauty that comes from Beam’s subtlety instead of bolstering it.

These jazz and jam influences may translate well for Iron & Wine’s concert and festival play but feel overly targeted in the studio. As a result, the movement looks more agenda building than artistic — not a huge surprise considering Iron & Wine just left Sub Pop to release “Kiss Each Other Clean” under the Warner Bros. record label.
Though there are some definite faults, the work is not failed by any means. “Walking Far From Home” is nothing short of magnificent. The same additions that weigh on other songs make “Walking” as epic as “The Trapeze Swinger” but much more active than anything in the entire Iron & Wine catalogue. The song’s electric static crackling, sporadically yet steadily rising, provides an entertaining setup for an uncharacteristically dynamic climax and conclusion.

“Glad Man Singing,” “Tree By the River” and “Half Moon” all have a polished vintage quality to them and the lyricism remains poignant and clever. Beam persists as not only an effective sound poet but also as an imagist. “Rabbit Will Run” and “Monkeys Uptown” are great lyrical examples, but their jam endings sound like somebody patting themselves on the back for an entire minute, nearly causing the listener to forget anything valuable was even said.

Ultimately, many of the songs would do well to lose a few elements and appearances. “The Shepherd’s Dog” proved that a full band does not have to sacrifice quality and that different does not have to include a synthesizer. Sam Beam’s Tiny Desk Concert on NPR, his Daytrotter Session and other solo renditions prove that a stripped-down sound is where Beam remains strongest and that songs like “Big Burned Hand” are just better without the saxophone.