Spencer Thomas: Everybody’s a Cynic

In March, Spencer Thomas returned to the record racks with a fantastic new album called Cynical Vision on Strolling Bones Records.

Produced by Thomas with Nate Nelson at Tweed Recording in Athens, Georgia, where Thomas had been living before moving to Atlanta a couple of years ago, these 10 new songs showcase the full potential of Spencer as a solo artist. 

Having left the ranks of Athens rockers Futurebirds in 2025, Thomas uses Cynical Vision as a conduit to recast himself as a singer-songwriter of both observational and confessional merit. Shades of Warren Zevon, Randy Newman and Lou Reed can be heard on songs like “Video Farm” and “The World is Fucked and I Love You.”

Rock & Roll Globe had the pleasure of electronically corresponding with Spencer about how Cynical Vision came to fruition. 

 

How did you land at Strolling Bones? Such a great label.

Well, you can thank Drew Beskin for that. When I moved to Athens, I set out to get to know the Fontaines because I liked a lot of the things they put out on their labels (Lilly Hiatt, Deslondes, Daniel Romano etc). Sure enough, I played probably the hottest AthFest set possible at 5 pm on a Friday in 2023 when the sun had fully cooked the pavement. George Sr. could’ve easily declined but he came and lucky for me, he was impressed with the show! We then hit it off as people and continued our relationship through the label. Now we’re two records in!

 

What was it like recording this album at Tweed Recording? 

Frankly, Tweed has some of the best gear you can find in the South. I’ve known Andrew from the old school Oxford, Mississippi Tweed days. Since Nate Nelson is an instructor at the Tweed Recording School and the engineer who mixed my last record, I wanted to see what it would be like to make a record with Nate and try less people. Maybe just a rhythm section and hire whoever else we needed as we went.

But what started as demos ended up as the groundwork for the final product, so I recorded most of it myself. That helped Nate and I have a laser-focused vision. Plus, if we didn’t like a part, we didn’t have to hurt someone’s feelings by taking it out of the song. I’m certainly missing the collaborative nature of a full band nowadays, but the way we made this record made the most sense. I loved watching the song unfold piece by piece. Also, I got to channel my inner-bass player that I haven’t accessed in a while. That was a joy!

How has the town of Athens affected you as an artist and an adult?

I’ve actually been in Atlanta almost two years, but I spent four years in Athens. I learned to be a (mostly) functioning adult in Jackson, Mississippi, but I learned to be an emotionally responsible adult in Athens. I think we all discovered a deeper part of ourselves during the pandemic. I just happened to spend part of my pandemic living in a one bedroom apartment in Athens. 

I learned to trust myself. I learned to make hard choices that were important to me but maybe unpopular to the people who wanted me to stay the way I was. I spend most of my time in Athens playing keys in Futurebirds, so I learned a professional level of music I’d never seen before. I saw more of the country and played in big spaces. I also learned that the appearance of success to others may not be your own personal version of success. That one was huge for me. I also learned to enjoy the journey more!

 

What is the story behind the title Cynical Vision?

I’ve had the title forever. I have three different versions of that song somewhere in the caverns of my voice memos. That was actually a pandemic baby that has chased me around for years. It didn’t make sense for me to release until these other songs started to take shape alongside it. Like finding the missing pieces of a puzzle years after you abandoned it. The song just happened to sum up a lot of our feelings post-pandemic, pre-AI tech doomscape, mid-absurdist political discourse. The “Cynical Vision” is what is served to us on our phone screens. The worse it is, the harder it is to look away. The more it’s fed to you. The title track and album is a statement on that hellish outlook and how we have to put it down. Embrace love, people, nature, optimism. A lot of these songs are wrought with dry humor, so it’s hard to tell at first that I’m very much being optimistic.

 

I really got a kick out of the cover photo as well. What inspired it?

Cody Rogers is an old friend from bands’ past and the art director of my records, merch, posters, etc. He had heard all these songs for a while, so he was very much part of helping this record take shape. When Cody, Garrett Cardoso and I were working on the “World Is Fucked” video, Cody suggested I took a picture looking down at my phone and holding up a finger like I’m “too drawn in to take my own press photo.” I didn’t think it would make the cover, but with Cody’s city pop- inspired backdrop showing the duality of daily perspective, I knew it was the way to go.

 

 

“The World is Fucked and I Love You” — what inspired the synths? 

Funny enough, I wrote the synth lead for “Grab Enlightenment.” I thought that song would end up faster. But when we recorded “World Is Fucked” to a drum machine, I knew we had to create a synth palette for it. I’ve always loved synth but I lacked the knowledge to shape it how I wanted to for songs. That’s where Nate came in! He created the tonal connective tissue to make all these pieces fit. I love that song. I love how simple and sardonic it is.

 

How does humor help your songwriting?

Humor led the way for this record. I think I got tired of my own song and dance. Heartbreak music is the easiest access point to songwriting because the feelings are so raw. My first record and about half of my second record is just heartbreak music. Not to say it didn’t have nuance and story, but I was personally bored with it. As soon as I started writing some of these songs and cracking myself up, I got excited. I think it shows songwriting maturity to write funny and tastefully. Plus, for a live show, it creates the element of theater. You laugh. You cry. It’s the full panorama of the human experience.

 

What is the story behind “Video Farm”?

Okay so I heard of these places where people would sync up hundreds of phones, tablets, etc. that all played the same video in order to boost views on YouTube or various social media. Probably on some socio-political podcast I wander my neighborhood and listen to. They’re called video farms or “view farms.” The idea scared the shit out of me. Coupled with the arms race of AI Data Centers, I wanted to point to the dichotomy of burning the world’s resources all in the name of saving mankind. They say “AI will cure cancer” while it dries rivers and poisons air. A sci-fi movie could not compete with the plot of reality right now.

So I recorded three chords over and over onto my phone and wrote lyrics as I listened back. I found the chorus hook of Video Farm and wanted a talky Lou Reed-type thing. I took the comedic concepts of some Randy Newman songs by singing as a character who is an idiot that wants to make money on these “video farms” but doesn’t understand the concept fully. Once I started playing it live, it became the song everyone was talking about. It’s my dad’s favorite!

 

VIDEO: Spencer Thomas “Video Farm”

You played a bunch of instruments on this album. What is your favorite to play and why?

For this record, I LOVED playing bass. I soaked it up. It made me happy to play along to my own drum tracks because I was immediately locked in. Nate has this Paul McCartney like bass that has this great thumpy sound and I used it for the whole record. It reminded me that I used to be a good bass player and I still got it.

 

How has making Cynical Vision helped you get through these difficult times?

I was happy to make something that I loved just for me. No pressure. No second guesses. I left Futurebirds at the end of 2024 so 2025 was all about readjusting my life and learning to trust myself. This record is the sonic representation of that trust.