Andy Grammer

Like a good therapy session, Monster excavates life from one angle after another. Lead single “I Do” features Grammer singing alongside country music duo Maddie & Tae, in a song written about Grammer’s wife Aijia that both playfully and thoughtfully depicts how the couple navigates the ups and downs of long relationships. “I sing ‘Even when I don’t love you, I do,’” he says. “Aijia and I have a standard of love for each other that’s bigger than the moment. We’re both committed to something larger.” The couple wrote and recorded other material for the record, including “Grey,” a song that mulls over whether love will survive as we age, and “Unforgivable,” an unflinching track influenced by a friend’s divorce. Pain and euphoria mingle freely. Grammer reclaims his “nice guy” reputation after getting stung in “Save A Spot In The Back”; playing on “nice guys finish last,” he proclaims “Save a spot in the back for me.” “Magic” surges forward like a classic indie-pop banger while reminiscing on loss and the unexplainable in life that, nevertheless, give it all its vibrancy. The song has an extra layer of poignance as the last composition Grammer wrote with his longtime collaborator Bram