Arizona-based Americana indie rockers Calexico and folk singer-songwriter Iron & Wine are announcing their first full-length collaborative album today, Years To Burn, and sharing its lead single, “Father Mountain.” This is the first time the artists have worked together on a release since 2005’s In the Reins EP.

“Father Mountain” is quintessential Iron & Wine, with its warm strumming and and catchy melody. Sam Beam takes lead vocals while Calexico’s Joey Burns harmonizes. Frequent Beam collaborator Rob Burger joins in with twinkling piano keys. The rest of the album features contributions from bassist Sebastian Steinberg (Soul Coughing, Fiona Apple), as well as veteran Calexico members Jacob Valenzuela on trumpet and Paul Niehaus on pedal steel.

Years To Burn was recorded in Nashville with producer Matt Ross-Spang at Sound Emporium, a legendary studio founded in the ’60s by Cowboy Jack Clement. The album counts new original compositions written by both Beam and Burns.

“Life is hard. Awesome. And scary as shit. But it can lift you up if you let it,” Beam says in a statement. “These are the things Joey and I write about now. And the title can encapsulate a lot of things. Years To Burn could mean you’re cocky, you’ve got it made. Or, our life is ours to burn, to be inspired. Or you’re burned by life, brutalized. It’s an ambiguous title, because life is complicated. Let’s not talk like teenagers about love, desire, pain, ‘cause we’re not teenagers. And that’s not a bad thing.”

“This project had to find the right time,” Burns says. “We’re all different people than we were in 2004, and music helps to bridge some of the gaps. For all the things going on in our world and in each of our lives, this connection, this friendship, this love that we have—this album is a vehicle for that bond. It’s a chance to see where we’re at, take stock and be there for our friends.”

Calexico’s last album was 2018’s The Thread That Keeps Us. In 2017, Iron & Wine released his first album in six years, Beast Epic. He followed up with The Weed Garden EP last year.

Listen to “Father Mountain” below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “What Heaven’s Left”
02 “Midnight Sun”
03 “Father Mountain”
04 “Outside El Paso”
05 “Follow The Water”
06 “The Bitter Suite (Pájaro / Evil Eye / Tennessee Train)”
07 “Years To Burn”
08 “In Your Own Time”

TOUR DATES:
07/19 Lisbon, PT @ Super Bock Super Rock
07/20 Arlsheim, CH @ Stimmen Festival
07/22 Milano, IT @ La Triennale di Milano
07/ Gardone Riviera, IT @ Anfiteatro del Vittoriale
07/24 Rome, IT @ Villa Ada
07/25 Florence, IT @ Cavea del Nuovo Teatro dell’opera
07/26 Monforte D’Alba, IT @ Auditorium Horszowski
07/28 Vienna, AT @ Konzerthaus
07/29 Palma, ES @ Auditorium de Palma de Mallorca
07/31 Hamburg, DE @ Stadtpark
08/02 Cambridge, UK @ Cambridge Folk Festival
08/03 Leuven, BE @ M-idzommer Festival
08/04 Crozon, FR @ Festival Du Bout Du Monde
08/16 Phoenix, AZ @ Orpheum Theatre
08/17 Tuscon, AZ @ Rialto Theatre
08/21 Ogden, UT @ Twilight Series at Ogden Amphitheater
08/22 Boise, ID OR @ Knitting Factory
08/23 Portland, OR @ Keller Auditorium
08/24 Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre
09/22 North Adams, MA @ FreshGrass Festival
11/05 Utrecht, NL @ TrivoliVrendenburg – Ronda
11/06 Luxembourg, LU @ Den Atelier
11/07 Antwerp, BE @ De Roma
11/09 Berlin, DE @ Tempodrom
11/10 Linz, AT @ Posthof
11/11 Munich, DE @ Muffathalle
11/12 Budapest, HU @ Müpa
11/14 Mannheim, DE @ Musensaal Rosengarten
11/15 Cologne, DE @ Palladium
11/16 Paris, FR @ La Cigale
11/18/ Edinburgh, UK @ Usher Hall *
11/19 Liverpool, UK @ Philharmonic Hall *
11/20 Manchester, UK @ Bridgewater Hall *
11/21 Conventry, UK @ Warwick Arts Centre *
11/23 London, UK @ Royal Festival Hall *
11/24 Bexhill-On-Sea, UK – De La Warr Pavillion *
*with support from Lisa O’Neill

Years To Burn is out 6/14 via City Slang in the EU and UK and Sub Pop in the rest of the world. Pre-order it here.