I am four years older than Sam Beam, so the assertion I’m about to make is ridiculous, though it feels exceedingly true. I think I’ve only recently aged into proper appreciation of Iron & Wine.

Beam hasn’t really changed his approach with the musical identity he’s worked under for around twenty-five years, but I’ve grown to better appreciate the elegance of his songwriting and the craft in his performance. How can I not be fully enraptured by a song with the lyrics “Beauty lasts about as long as lightning/ Honesty’s an eight ball in the dark,” as heard on the new track “Roses.”

Hen’s Teeth, the new album from Iron & Wine, is scheduled for release in late February.