Posting a second already because I’d be shocked if anyone else who uses the site regularly is going to be plugging Gabriel Kahane (heard he’ll be in the house band on Live From here this weekend). Also, I can’t believe this didn’t come to mind immediately. His music is always very well thought and cerebral, but his last two albums were concept works that transition from one to the other. The Ambassador (named for The Ambassador Hotel where RFK was shot) is a love letter to LA through architecture and film scenes.
The title track has become one of my favorite songs:
Then last fall, he released Book of Travelers, which is an album of vignettes taken from conversations held on cross country Amtrak rides, which began the morning after the 2016 election. He left his phone behind and made an effort to speak to people in the dining car.
What is neat, is where Ambassador ends in a post apocalyptic Union Station in LA, Book of Travelers seems to pick up in the same place, as though continuing a conversation with a song called November. I won’t link it all, but if you decide you enjoy his stuff I will tell you there is a pretty solid deal on his full digital catalog on band camp.