The new Iron and Wine album ‘Kiss Each Other Clean’ will be released in early 2011, on the 4AD label. It's the first time for this delectable label (see also: Bon Iver, The National, Scott Walker) but also the first in three years time for singer-songwriter Sam Beam. Forerunner ‘The Shepherd’s Dog’ and single ‘Boy With A Coin’ (a hit here too) are, to this day, correctly considered to be Beam’s – possibly not last – masterpieces.

This charming troubadour (and currently Texas resident) has been compared with Elliott Smith, Nick Drake and John Fahey ever since his debut 'The Creek Drank The Cradle' in 2002. In 2005 he further explored his musical horizons by working with Calexico to record the stunning EP 'In The Reins'. That brought Beam in touch with new sources of inspiration and so on 'The Shepherd's Dog' you could hear Beam's familiar Americana fertilized by the roots music of other regions such as West-Africa and the Caribbean.

The unforgettable concert the man gave in the AB in 2008 still triggers memories and this time too Beam will visit the AB 'with band', this coming 16 February.

Iron & Wine performed the entire new album for NPR New York radio, you can find the video here.

‘See You On The Moon’ is the album by American songstress Tift Merritt that saw the light of day last year. She found in Tucker Martine the appropriate producer to bring her musical short films to life. Tucker has already worked with R.E.M., Sufjan Stevens, Spoon and The Decemberists in the past. What's more, Tift managed to get hold of Jim James from My Morning Jacket for a vocal contribution on the song ‘Feel Of The World’. It's also worth mentioning that her album ‘Tambourine’ from 2005 was nominated for a Grammy Award.