Song of the Day: Iron & Wine - Boy With a Coin

Sam Beam at Sasquatch 2006
photo by Gregory A. Perez

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s featured selection, chosen by Midday Show host Cheryl Waters, is Boy With a Coin by Iron & Wine from the forthcoming album The Shepherd’s Dog on Sub Pop.

Iron & Wine - Boy With a Coin (MP3)Ever since 2002’s The Creek Drank the Cradle, Sam Beam has slowly added instrumentation and subtle layers to his lo-fi lullabies. The Boy With a Coin (CD Single), containing the two non-album tracks Carried Home and Kingdom of the Animals, shows Beam getting comfortable amidst those layers, carrying on the full-band sound of the In the Reins album and the Woman King EP. Beam seems to have an endless supply of undeniable melodies and great lyricism, now with production quality that’s sure to deliver his biggest audience yet for the upcoming record. Though technical difficulties abounded, Iron & Wine performed lots of new material to a rousing audience at this year’s Pitchfork Festival, closing out the set with a much talked about encore performance of Radiohead’s No Surprises.While Iron & Wine are mainly slated for UK dates thus far, The Shepherd’s Dog will definitely warrant a full-fledged U.S. jaunt. Check out the I&W website and MySpace page for streams and information. Here’s a live performance of “The Trapeze Swinger,” a song beam did for the movie In Good Company: