Listener

Listener is an indie rock/spoken word project from Fayetteville, Arkansas that began in 2002. The project is based around lyricist/vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Dan Smith, who initially used the name as a moniker for his early hip-hop based work. As his career progressed, he retained the name as it evolved into a full-fledged rock band. He has worked with a number of musicians since, all under the band name Listener. After incorporating live instrumentation behind him, Listener evolved from a hip-hop project into their now-signature sound. Their songs are structured around Dan Smith reciting (not singing) his spoken word pieces, with an instrumental background that builds and falls with the song as needed. They've crafted a unique sound for themselves, which has been quite influential in the past few years.

Below is only a partial discography, since it is quite hard to track down all their releases (especially their earliest work, pre-spoken word jam band). So, if you have anything that's missing from below (their first three albums, in particular) please send it my way! Thanks so much to Juan for sending them to me! Enjoy.

Whispermoon (2003)

1. The Moon Cries Out

2. FYI

3. You're So Underground

4. Emotional

5. Winter Life

6. Train Song

7. Decadence

8. I'm Beginning To Hear Whispers

9. Ways Of The Wind

10. You Will Be My Music

11. Behind These Doors

12. Wundering

13. Crystal Methods

14. It's A Lonely World

15. Untitled

Ozark Empire (2005)

1. Backwoods Preacher Man

2. Ozark Empire

3. I've Been Waiting For This Moment For All My Life, Hold On

4. In The Woods You Know Where Your Enemies Are

5. You're So Special Because You're So Unique

6. I'd Like To Offer You My Dearest Apologies

7. When No One Else Will Be Your Friend I Will Do The Job

8. The Music That The Angels Do

9. It's Time For Drastic Measures They're Not Taking You Seriously

10. What Would You Do If I'm Not What I'm Supposed To Be

11. They Always Say Your Life Will Never Dull Or Your Money Back

12. Officer You Have The Wrong Man I Am Not That Man

Just In Time For Christmas (2005)

1. Its Christmas Time Again, So Come On Home To The Fire

2. You Know He Knows? Well, He Knows Regardless

3. Do You See What I See? I Hope So

4. Hey, Those Herald Angels Are Singing Again. Listen

5. Born In Bethlehem, And He Shall Send Them One By One

6. Don't Touch The Drums Boy

7. Silent Night, Holy Night. All Is Bright, All Is Bright

8. The Leaf Sure Is Heavy, But You Have To Turn It Over feat. Manchild

Talk Music (2006)

1. We March To A Whole Different Drum (Live)

2. Ozark Empire, Or Snake Oil Salesman

3. Stick This In Your Ear (Live)

4. Your Life Will Never Dull Or Your Money Back

5. The Music That The Angels Do (Live)

6. Train Song (Live)

7. I Have Nothing But Attention When I Scream

8. Deepspace5 Songs (Live)

9. Mourning In The Morning

10. That's It

11. Life Is

12. Older Than I Was Before

13. ABC News Tour Of Homes Desk Banter

14. What Would You Do If I'm Not What I'm Supposed To Be (Live)

15. All Of This With Words

Not Waving, Drowning (2007)

1. You Have Never Lived Because You Have Never Died

2. Falling In Love With Glaciers

3. Seatbelt Hands

4. Failing Is Not Just For Failures

5. You Were A House On Fire

6. Save Up Your Hopes Friends

7. Maybe We Are All Beautiful

8. I'd Like To Offer You My Dearest Apologies

9. Death By Shotgun

10. Put Another Rock In My Hand

11. Stick This In Your Ear

12. The Music That The Angels Do

13. This Is It

Train Songs (2009)

1. Train Song (fienix)

2. Train Song (live)

3. Train Song (dust)

4. Train Song (spoken)

5. Train Song (original)

Return To Struggleville (2009)

1. Death By Shotgun

2. A Song From A Knife Salesman To His Wife On Their Wedding Day

3. It's Time For Drastic Measures They're Not Taking You Seriously

4. The Music That The Angels Do

5. My Five Year Plan

6. What Would You Do If I'm Not What I'm Supposed To Be

7. I Have Nothing But Attention When I Scream

8. Ozark Empire, Or A Snake Oil Salesman Comes To Your Town

9. Your Life Will Never Dull Or Your Money Back

10. When No One Else Will Be Your Friend I Will Do The Job

11. Officer You Have The Wrong Man, I Am Not That Man

Wooden Heart (2010)

1. You Have Never Lived Because You Have Never Died

2. I Don't Want to Live Forever

3. Most Roads Lead to Home

4. Wooden Heart

5. Falling In Love With Glaciers

6. Failing Is Not Just For Failures

7. Building Better Bridges

8. Seatbelt Hands

9. These Hands Weren't Meant For Us

10. You Were A House On Fire

11. Save Up Your Hopes Friends

Time Is A Machine (2013)

1. Eyes To The Ground For Change

2. Good News First

3. Not Today

4. Tornadoes

5. I Think It's Called Survival

6. Everything Sleeps

7. There Are Wrecking Balls Inside Us

8. It Will All Happen The Way It Should

Being Empty : Being Filled (2018)

1. Pent Up Genes

2. Little Folded Fingers

3. There's Money In The Walls

4. Add Blue

5. Bloodshot/New Love

6. Shock And Value

7. Window To The World

8. A Love Letter To Detroit

9. Manhattan Projects

10. Plague Doctor