A subtle excitement was in the air and a hush fell over the crowd at the Leon Loft on Tuesday, August 1, as Britt Daniel and Alex Fischel of Spoon took the stage and went live on ann arbor’s 107one.

Bodies began to sway and toes tapped as Daniel crooned the title track of the band’s 2017 album Hot Thoughts, the ninth in the band’s discography.

“It was a happy accident,” Daniel said of the writing process for Hot Thoughts. The album includes a unique blend of rhythm, soul, and even saxophone. “With the track Us, the song started as a saxophone intro to another song, but after it was recorded, I listened to it and I thought it should be it’s own. It was just the right thing to do,” said Daniel.

The Austin-based band has performed together since 1993 and they’ve released a steady stream of albums in that time. In the interview portion of their set, they spoke with Acoustic Café host Rob Reinhart about dealing with the trials and tribulations of changing lineups and record executives who suggested the band might need to move on.

Through it all Spoon has continued to weave works of art with their words, controlled guitar riffs, and methodical beats. The band continues to progress and keep in time with their early mantra: just keep writing songs.

“A live audience helps. There are always surprising parts of songs that people respond to. For Hot Thoughts, we had about 40 songs that were on the way there, but some weren’t. I think it helped make it a better record because we’d get one and allow ourselves to ask ‘what way does the album want to go?’” Daniel explained.

The band continued with songs like “Do You”, “Can I Sit Next To You”, “Rainy Taxi”, and “The One”.

And, as “Rainy Taxi” reached its end, Reinhart chuckled to Daniel and asked if the next Spoon album would be wholly acoustic. Daniel smiled and said simply “We’ll see, you never know.”

You can watch Part 2 of Spoon’s performance at the Leon Loft here and Part 3 here. View photographs from the show on Facebook.

Because music is our first love, we created the Leon Loft, a dedicated performance space at our headquarters in Ann Arbor, MI. At this intimate, live venue, we’ve had the pleasure of welcoming some of today’s biggest artists for a live recording of Acoustic Café with Rob Reinhart, all broadcast live on ann arbor’s 107one. For more information about the Leon Loft, visit www.leonloft.com or watch past performances on our YouTube channel.