There’s a great story behind the Bret Tobias Set’s “It Begins With A Lean.” Or, at least, it’s an interesting one. The Set’s drummer, Mike Kennedy, usually mixes the band’s music, but he happened to be busy this time. Someone recommended Detroit native Kevin Williams, and Tobias sent him the song.
“He immediately replied, saying it reminded him of the Church,” says Philly-based indie-rock/power-pop lifer Tobias. “I fucking love the Church, so hired him on the spot. Turns out he was Marty Wilson-Piper’s guitar tech on the Gold Afternoon Fix tours. Poor dude had to restring two Rickenbacker 12-strings every night for weeks on end.”
As for “It Begins With A Lean,” Tobias describes it as “a jaunty little number about the end of civilization.” It’s his first new music since, well, about six weeks ago.
“The words came in a torrent while I was on a train home from NYC,” he says. “I wasn’t consciously writing a political song, but the environment in the runup to the election was all-consuming. The first three verses seem to be from the perspective of people in situations that make them susceptible to demagoguery—the alienated, the faux-spiritual, the conspiracy-minded and the decadents incensed about the party ending. Then the last two verses are the dystopian consequences. But don’t worry, it ain’t U2—and if I can get my shit together, a full-length will follow later in the year.”
For now, we’re proud to premiere the Bret Tobias Set’s “It Begins With A Lean.”
—Hobart Rowland
