Reviews

Sam Beam’s latest offering Kiss Each Other Clean continues the trend the folk artist started with Calexico on In the Reins, and his previous album The Shepherd’s Dog, by enlisting the support of a full backing band. However, this time around the arrangements are, as Sam Beam puts it, more akin to “early to mid 70’s FM radio friendly music” rather than the ailing country/folk rock of his preceding recordings.

 Apart from a few head scratching moments with a horn section on ‘Big Burned Hand’ the change in style pays off well. ‘Walking Far from Home’, ‘Rabbit Will Run’, and ‘Tree by the River’ are all sublimely arranged and sung, and the album as a whole breezes by in an easy listening style. The more streamlined approach Sam Beam takes with Kiss Each Other Clean may put off some of his fans. Yet Kiss Each Other Clean is undoubtedly the most accessible and instantly likeable recording he’s done so far.