Brett Dennen: Art Is Life

Across his career, Brett Dennen has established himself as the kind of singer-songwriter who finds inspiration by digging into the nooks and crannies of the human condition—exploring pain, joy, sadness, and all points in between. If It Takes Forever (Mick Music), the California native’s eighth solo album and first full-length since 2021’s See the World, is no exception. The warm, immersive collection boasts deeply felt sentiments, underpinned by rich acoustic guitars and Dennen’s earnest vocals, in the vein of dusky Americana (“Golden State of Mind”), harmonica-driven blues (the Tom Petty-esque “Careful What You Wish For”), rootsy indie (“Don’t Go Talking”), and meditative folk-rock (highlight “Time To Wake Up”).

If It Takes Forever emerged out of a tough 2023 for Dennen, as he was dealing with the death of his dad. “He was such a strong figure in my life that I depended on so much as both a dad and a best friend,” he said. “And I knew immediately in order for me to deal with his death, the best thing I could do was to make an album about it.”

Understandably, Dennen took his time coming up with song ideas for If It Takes Forever, and spent the bulk of a year simply thinking about “what kind of album I was going to make and what kinds of songs were going to be on the album,” he says. “I jotted down ideas on paper, made little voice memos with ideas of songs, melodies and choruses, or sometimes even just talked into a voice recorder.”

With these ideas as a foundation, Dennen was well-prepared by the time he hunkered down in late 2023 to formalize his rough ideas into songs. “Making them a reality all happened very fast,” he says. “These songs were in my head and came out when I had the guitar in my hand. I would record one, put it away and then come back a few days or a few weeks later and listen to it: ‘Okay, I think that's done. That's good enough. Move on, move on, move on.’”

Dennen naturally wrote some songs directly about his dad. But he also wanted If It Takes Forever to tackle his new reality going forward. “It was evaluating life—like, what did this person mean to me?” he says. “What did they inspire in me? What do I think life is about now? Who's the person I really want to be?” But he also found himself turning to broader philosophical questions. “I was also thinking about the state of life: What is life? What does it mean? What's it all about?”

This lent itself to lyrics full of vibrant imagery with multiple layers of meaning. Among his favorite songs is the gentle, folksy “In the Garden,” which was indirectly inspired by his parents and the impressive vegetable garden they tended. “I don't necessarily think it's a song about my dad—or a song about him speaking to my mom, per se—but I think it's a song about love and putting your intention into something,” Dennen explains. “Metaphorically, it’s about taking care of something and creating something beautiful, but it’s also a literal place for beautiful things to grow, and a calm place to find solace in.”

Another favorite is “Wood Canoe,” a narrative-driven story of humble man who has a knack for building a canoe out of wood, with lyrics speaking to the idea of metaphorically taking somebody away to a better place, he explains. “It feels like a Cat Stevens song and has a little bit of Latin rhythm to it.” Dennen also loves “Another Day in Babylon” because of its rumbling groove—and the fact it’s very literal, as he based the lyrics on things that happened in his own life.

The easygoing opening track, “Chipping Away,” meanwhile, touches on resilience and the importance of persevering even when things might not be falling into place the way you’d like. “There's so many things I want to do and so many things I haven't done—and I'm the one holding myself back from doing those things,” he explains. “But that's just life, I guess—and here's an opportunity to celebrate that.”

Dennen recorded If It Takes Forever quickly, “in a whirlwind five days” in Los Angeles with the musicians in his live band and another long-time collaborator serving as producer, Jon Solo. This full-band configuration gave the album a distinct feeling of immediacy but also lends itself to depth-filled arrangements. Organ courses through the standout “Dharma Baby” while plaintive piano adds sharp melancholy to the meditative “Star Surfer.”

“We haven't recorded an album together before now,” he notes. “But it was easy to trust everyone and get excited about what we were creating together. We felt like a team; I've never had that feeling before. That’s why I think it was easy to get so much done in a short amount of time.”

In general, Dennen prefers recording live with a band anyway. But the bond he had formed with his bandmates across years of traveling around together on the road made the If It Takes Forever experience especially seamless—namely because everyone contributed parts and ideas in the studio during the process. “I was really impressed with everybody's ability to help me get to a place where I was feeling good about the direction it was going,’ he says. “It wasn't me or the producer saying, ‘I want you to do this. I was hoping you would do this.’ It wasn't like ‘This is Brett’s album’—it was like, let's just make this music the best that the four of us can make it.”

Since debuting in 2004 with a self-titled album, Dennen has amassed a loyal fanbase thanks to a steady touring schedule, including alongside artists like John Mayer, Jason Mraz and G Love and Special Sauce, as well as multiple song placements in the TV show Parenthood. Another tune, "Comeback Kid (That's My Dog)," became the theme song for the TV adaptation About A Boy. Along the way, Dennen has also had multiple top 10 hits on the AAA radio charts, with the keening title track of See the World, an encouraging song about growing up and forging your own path in life, landing at No. 4 in 2021.

With If It Takes Forever, Dennen plans to hit the road once again, but he possesses additional perspective on—and gratitude for—the solace provided by art and music. “To really boil it down, this is life,” he says. “Life is full of things that get complicated and make you busy, and are really hard to deal with. But if you write songs about it, and put it into art, then it makes it a lot more relevant and meaningful and worthy of celebration.”