Andrew Schneider - Pleasant Thoughts

Andrew Schneider

Pleasant Thoughts
self-released; 2025

By Matt Jensen
​

Some songs stand the test of time. As an artist myself there are times when I pick up a song I started ten years ago because it somehow was stored in my memory. This sort of thing happened with  which is a song by Andrew Schneider. “Pleasant Thoughts” is a track originally penned in 2007 and reshaped through years of live performance into something precise, lived-in, and emotionally weighty.

Built on a sturdy rock foundation with hints of Americana threaded through its fabric, the song recalls the windswept sprawl of artists like The War on Drugs, but with a sharper lyrical focus and a more intimate scale. The arrangement is full without feeling bloated—layered guitars and a steady rhythmic pulse creating just enough lift for Schneider’s weathered, reflective vocals to cut through.

He sings with a sense of earned reverence, not performative longing, and it’s this restraint that gives the lyrics their impact. There’s no reaching for universal platitudes here; instead, Schneider leans into specificity, with lines like: “And though I know you’re so sweet, I can’t accept you were right / Because I’ve lost so much sleep wondering if you’ve known sleepless nights.” It’s self-aware without being self-indulgent, raw without falling apart.

​“Pleasant Thoughts” doesn’t sound like a track that was rescued from the past—it feels like it was always meant for right now. Thoughtful, resonant, and sharply crafted, it’s a reminder that some songs just need time to find their shape.

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