While this leadoff track from Iron and Wine's new album The Sheperd's Dog (due out September 25 on Sub Pop) isn't quite a "Dylan at Newport" electric reinvention, it's clear by now that our bearded pal Sam Beam has overcome the studio solipsism of his all-acoustic early work. "Boy With a Coin" has all the gently plucked guitar and vocal harmonies that are Beam's trademark but the track also hints at African polyrhythms with the way its handclaps, hand percussion and guitar rhythms intertwine, and dips the whole thing in spooky southwestern sauce with pedal steel and looping effects. It's a small step forward for Beam. Let's hope for an even larger one for the rest of the album. "Boy With a Coin" will be officially released as a single on July 10th, with non-album cuts "Carried Home" and "Kingdom of the Animals" as the B-sides. Find the entire tracklisting after the jump.
Iron and Wine "Boy With a Coin"


01 Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car
02 White Tooth Man
03 Lovesong of the Buzzard
04 Carousel
05 House by the Sea
06 Innocent Bones
07 Wolves (Song of the Shepherd'''s Dog)
08 Resurrection Fern
09 Boy With a Coin
10 The Devil Never Sleeps
11 Peace Beneath the Cit
12 Flightless Bird, American Mouth
New Iron and Wine: Boy With a Coin (My Old Kentucky Blog)