Hen's Teeth is the eighth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Iron & Wine, released on February 27, 2026, by Sub Pop.
Background Hen's Teeth was recorded during the same sessions as Iron & Wine's previous album, Light Verse, at Dave Way's Waystation Studio in Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles. As with Light Verse, Hen's Teeth was produced by Sam Beam and features contributions from the same musicians: Tyler Chester on keyboards, Sebastian Steinberg on bass, David Garza on guitar, Paul Cartwright on violin, Griffin Goldsmith, Beth Goodfellow, and Kyle Crane on percussion. Unlike Light Verse, however, Hen's Teeth includes two duets with the Americana supergroup trio I'm with Her, who appear on the lead single "Robin's Egg" and on "Wait Up". It also includes contributions from Beam's daughter Arden, whose harmonies and backing vocals appear on the tracks "Roses", "Singing Saw", "Defiance, Ohio" and "Grace Notes". Beam has called the album a "sibling" or "fraternal twin" to Light Verse, comparing them to twins "that get along OK and don't really compete because they have their own interests. They're both unique but if you hear them speaking to one another you can tell they grew up in the same house". Regarding the album's title, Beam said Hen's Teeth was one he "always wanted to use", explaining, "I just love it. To me it suggests the impossible. Hen's teeth do not exist. And that's what this record felt like: a gift that shouldn't be there but it is. An impossible thing but it's real."
Release and promotion On June 10, 2025, Iron & Wine released the single "Robin's Egg", featuring I'm With Her, a month before the start of their co-headlining Robin's Egg Tour.
The album was announced on January 7, 2026, simultaneously with the release of the lead single "In Your Ocean". The second single, "Roses", was released on February 5, 2026. The album was released on February 27, 2026, by Sub Pop.
Iron & Wine supported the album with a tour beginning in Australia on February 28, 2026, continuing through New Zealand and North America. The North American leg, which was originally announced to conclude on May 17, was resumed in October for a further run of shows.
On August 27, 2026, Iron & Wine announced a deluxe edition of the album, which was released on September 22, 2026, on Sub Pop. It features four previously unreleased songs recorded during the album's session, along with acoustic versions of "In Your Ocean" and "Grace Notes". "California Sober" and the acoustic version of "In Your Ocean" were released as singles that same day.
Critical reception
At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 79, based on 11 reviews.
Tim Sendra of AllMusic wrote, "This record, and Light Verse, show that he is still searching, still working hard, and still able to imbue his albums with the same deep feeling and unstinting beauty that he has from the beginning."
Track listing
Personnel Sam Beam – vocals, guitar, production, artwork, artwork direction Arden Beam – vocals Paul Jacob Cartwright – violin, viola, mandolin, mandola, tenor guitar, string arrangements Tyler Chester – piano, organ, keys David Garza – guitars, zither, kalimba Griffin Goldsmith – drums, percussion Beth Goodfellow – drums, percussion Kyle Crane – drums, percussion Sebastian Steinberg – bass Sarah Jarosz – vocals Aoife O'Donovan – vocals Sara Watkins – vocals Dave Way – recording Gary Paczosa – additional recording Darren Schneider – additional recording Dusty Summers – artwork direction
Charts + Chart performance for Hen's Teeth Chart (2026) Peakposition
References