Nashville-by-way-of-New England singer/songwriter Glenn Thomas has released “Oriole,” the lead single from his forthcoming LP Reassure Me There’s A Window, out May 15th via Palace Flophouse Records. “I wrote this song after a bout of insomnia, where I wouldn’t fall asleep until early in the morning each night,” Thomas told Atwood Magazine in its premiere. “There was that dreaded time before the sun began to rise where the birds would start chirping. I thought it would be funny to ask the birds the questions that were keeping me up, since they were all unanswerable anyway. When I set the words to music, I thought it would be fun to make the music sound…lively, like a 60s pop song with serious lyrics.” “Folky, calm, with a skip in its step, its rhythm is familiar and bright,” Atwood Magazine said. “Raised in New England, Thomas encapsulates that ambience of small town daydreaming. “Oriole” is a reminder that, whether we’re with our own thoughts or sharing company with nature, we’re never solely alone- regardless of how delirious we feel.”
LISTEN: "ORIOLE"
Thomas, who cut his teeth fronting Rhode Island rock outfit Wild Sun, has shared stages with bands like Langhorne Slim, The Wombats, and Blitzen Trapper. He began writing songs that didn't fit within the rock-centric framework, and decided he would strike out on his own, stretching his creative muscles. The album was produced by Jordan Lehning (Rodney Crowell, Andrew Combs, Joshua Hedley); with its throwback flair, Reassure Me There's A Window is a lush, sweetly-arranged collection of articulate folk-tinged songs. Of Reassure Me There’s A Window, Atwood Magazine said, “The album, recorded in Nashville, follows a similar easy-going reflectiveness as ‘Oriole,’ with the additional guitar twangs and the sound of violins like hazy streaks of sunset while traveling solitarily on an open road.”
The album's 11 tracks - tight fingerpicking guitar-based tunes with introspective lyrics fleshed out with resonant string arrangements - center around the human condition - ideas of love and loss, isolation and connection, and wondering what more is out there. He writes songs that cut straight to his truths; by putting his life and the human condition under the microscope, his songs articulately observe the big questions with small details, paying careful attention to his understanding of himself and the seasonality of life.
Thomas will celebrate Reassure Me There’s A Window with an album release show on May 13th at The 5 Spot in Nashville.