It’s January 18th and I’ve yet to make a blog post in 2019.

But there’s also this: it’s January 18th and a guy in my neighborhood still has his Christmas lights up. And on. Like, a bunch of them. Every night. So, in my mind, I’m still ahead of the curve.

I want to commit to writing more in the upcoming year — but I say that every year. The golden age of blogging was pretty brief, but I’m still plugging away, using this site as a repository for my random thoughts, baseball predictions, sermon notes, and book / album reviews. Honestly, I’m more interested in developing this platform than I am in spending much time on social media these days.

Today marked the release of the first 2019 album to really grab my attention: Pedro the Lion’s Phoenix, the band’s first release under that name since 2004. I was only tangentially aware of Pedro the Lion back then, but I’ve been listening to the pre-release singles on Spotify for weeks and I was really excited about Phoenix. After a couple of listens, it has not disappointed. David Bazan’s lyrics are always layered, but it seems as many of the references here are literal, given that Bazan grew up Phoenix. As such, the record is an ode to home, to nostalgia, to growing up and getting out, with “Yellow Bike” as Exhibit A. Sonically, the guitars ring and wail, even glisten at times, lending a richness to the aural soundscape as Bazan works out where he’s headed by looking to where he’s been. A shorter summary: it sounds really good. Looking forward to digging in to this one in the weeks to come.