Claude says:Pete Yorn has spent two decades proving himself a craftsman who plays nearly everything on his own records — a Spin-anointed songwriter's songwriter with a knack for jangle and hum. Hawaii arrived as his ninth album, leaning into the same breezy, guitar-driven pop-rock he's refined since 2001, though by now the urgency has mellowed into something warmer and more lived-in. You gave it a couple of stray spins in late 2024, but it didn't click until the following summer, when "Elizabeth Taylor" and "Fred & Wilma" became brief fixtures before the whole thing faded by August.