Spencer Griffin's New Music Mondays

 Since Monday was Memorial Day, I'm making it for it by posting about four brand new songs today instead. Here they are! "All the Beauty" by Pete Yorn:  This song is a bittersweet song from Yorn where he mixes electronic synths, indie-garage fuzz, and jangly indie-folk warmth into one song. This is one of those songs that could be about anything! According to the description for the song's official video, two ideas arise. One is about the song itself and how we should appreciate the present when it happens ("and I miss all the beauty of this place"). The other, though, is about his love of dogs! I'm not sure whether the song is actually about his dog, Rosie, but she might very well have inspired this one, especially given how often she appears in the video for this one! As for me? I love kitties! But any furry creature dear to our hearts is one worth treasuring! "Heart Has to Work So Hard" by Blondshell:  Like many of Blondshell's songs, th...

 here they are: "Aerial Troubles" by Stereolab:   Stereolab have been active for over 35 years, but this marks the first time I've really gotten to hear one of their songs! Though I don't know their material too well, I did get the impression from hearing about them that they mixed the bittersweet side of 1960's pop music with more avant-garde aspects of music, and "Aerial Troubles" seems to be confirming that this is indeed what Stereolab sounds like! The Anglo-French indie outfit whisper and sing playfully over swirling synths and sprawling harpsichords that sound like they came straight out of an obscure French avant-garde romance film! If any song screams "French hipster," this is it! Not that anyone asked, of course. "Chemistry" by Gigi Perez:  Last summer, we were introduced to Gigi Perez, whose indie-folk sound seemed to contrast with her fast-spreading TikTok fame. Where her "Sailor Song" was more or less straight up...

 here they are: "Just a Bird" by Blind Pilot:  It's been almost a decade since Blind Pilot last released something! Their latest song, "Just a Bird," is a bit more upbeat and a bit more roots-y/country flavored than most of their more subdued, dreamy folk-rock was in their previous songs. The song's upbeat sound is balanced well by its deep lyrics. "Just a Bird" is a soul-searching, truth-seeking song, though it's anyone's guess as to what the title phrase ("sometimes a bird is just a bird") means.  "Real Good Love" by Pete Yorn:  "Real Good Love" finds Pete Yorn drifting further away from folk-rock and more towards a pure folk sound. The song even seems to use alternate tuning in a similar manner to performers like Joni Mitchell and Nick Drake, though I haven't heard the song enough times yet to really tell if it uses that. "Real good love is so hard to find," Yorn smoothly whispers during the so...

 here they are: "Right Back to It" by Waxahatchee:  "Right Back to It" continues in the Americana direction that Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee has steered her music lately. It's a bittersweet, slow song that makes heavy use of the banjo, perhaps more so than other Waxatchee songs have since a lot of them are more guitar focused. Adding to the song's already country-rock flavor is Spencer Tweedy (who shares a first name with me), Jeff from Wilco's son, who plays drums on this track.  "Someday, Someday" by Pete Yorn:  Pete Yorn's music has now been around almost a quarter century. I did not think he would be doing music for that long of a time, but he has, and his musical quality has not dimmed a bit! "Someday, Someday," Yorn's latest, even finds him exploring new rhythmic dimensions! In typical Yorn fashion, the song is a folk-rock number, but it's also a waltz, which is not common to his material. The song could be desc...