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May 09, 2024 By Caleb Campbell

Next week, Athens, Georgia-based singer/songwriter Spencer Thomas is set to return with his new LP, The Joke of Life. The record arrives five years after his 2019 self-released debut, Hangin’ Tough and chronicles the change and upheaval of the intervening years, transmuting it into vibrant, vintage-tinged songcraft. The record also features a variety of fellow Athen’s-based musicians, including appearances from members of My Morning Jacket, Drive-By Truckers, and Futurebirds.

Earlier this year, Thomas shared the record’s singles “How Come Heartbreak” and “Little Gold,” and today he’s following with his latest single, “Always Never You,” premiering with Under the Radar.

“Always Never You” is a dose of dreamy, soft-focus pop bliss, lovingly traced with a spacious rhythm section and sweeping melodies. The results sound indebted to late ‘60s psych pop, conjuring stylings that feel equal parts dreamy and lovelorn. Meanwhile, Thomas’s vocals float lazily atop the hazy instrumentation, with his lyrics yearning for a doomed romance that never was: “I think of everything you do / While my well runs dry / And still I’m wondering why / We’re always never better together / This one and one don’t make two / When it’s always never you.”

Thomas says of the track, “I started singing this Brian Wilson-like melody in the shower and couldn’t shake it. This character is lost in wondering why he and the person he loved never had their proper shot. This is the lyrical version of him traveling down a fantasy rabbit hole. I knew I wanted a playful Pet Sounds production, so we used every auxiliary instrument Chase Park had in its basket (including a clown horn). I wrote the vocal arrangement and recorded most of the background vocals through my own microphone at home.”

Check out the song below. The Joke of Life is out on May 17th via Strolling Bones Records. Pre-order the record here.